


ashes in the sun

by starlace



Series: witches au [1]
Category: VERIVERY (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Found Family, M/M, Magic, Minor Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Vampires, everyone has a tragic past, one vampire really, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27458221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlace/pseuds/starlace
Summary: Dongheon has a bit more family than he thinks he does and sometimes, always, it's worth fighting for. All of it.
Relationships: Bae Hoyoung/Lee Dongheon
Series: witches au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172483
Comments: 13
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ok so. in my humble opinion, this is not as dramatic as it sounds? everyone is happy in the end i promise but they have to get through some stuff first
> 
> additional cw for: blood i think? and there are some narrow-minded assholes
> 
> aka here's some 100% self-indulgent pseudo angst so u can forgive me for the tentacle porn   
>  there is also now a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3qmrGbyl5BtrXgSU13nkEA?si=AJZjnxK9TbuoPe7znOGFdg). it doesn't last for the entire fic but it's what i looped while writing this chapter so--- enjoy? (very aptly named, i know)

It’s dark outside when the shop’s door creaks open. There have been a lot of storms lately, the sky dark enough that Dongheon has started opening up a little earlier.

It’s darker still, just past nightfall by the time Dongheon is almost done fulfilling his current order.

"Hey," Dongheon's customer says, a boy by the name of Kangmin. "Did you know there's a guy hanging upside down on your shelf?"

He’s not a  _ new  _ customer per se because his mom is probably half the reason Dongheon’s shop is still thriving. To this day, Dongheon has trouble figuring her out because she seems to hate every second spent in the presence of magic. One thing’s for sure, Kangmin hasn’t been to the shop alone before, definitely not this late.

There's an excited squeak from the general direction of the shelf and Dongheon can imagine Hoyoung’s expression of excitement at being acknowledged. Dongheon uses the mild blend of fear and irritation to mask his surprise. One would think that living with someone will make you get used to their presence but somehow Hoyoung always manages to catch him by surprise, to this day.

"Yes, ignore him," Dongheon replies, off-hand, as he keeps mixing the protection spell for Kangmin's mom. 

Kangmin doesn't follow the advice, of course - his eyes keep darting behind Dongheon's back and he's having quite a bit of trouble stifling his laughter. To be fair, Hoyoung is probably making faces at him, desperate to keep at least  _ someone's _ attention. 

All of a sudden, Kangmin's eyes go wide and confused, then filled with barely concealed fear. The noises from the shelf stop just as abruptly and Dongheon sighs. 

"Did he show you his fangs?"

Kangmin nods, glancing between Dongheon's face and where Hoyoung is probably looking like a kicked puppy right about now. 

"Mom says vampires are very dangerous," Kangmin says quietly. Dongheon appreciates the attempt at subtlety, even if Hoyoung can definitely still hear them. 

He taps the pouch of the protection spell against the counter a few times, then reaches for the roll of twine. 

"Your mom is a smart woman," he says carefully, making sure to add a smile. "But see, everyone can be dangerous." He raises his hand, palm up, then allows a string of black flames escape through his fingertips and crawl up his arm. Kangmin looks entranced. 

"But it's so pretty," Kangmin insists. 

Dongheon barely stops himself from blurting something stupid like,  _ Isn't Hoyoung pretty too?  _

Instead, he says, "And our vampire friend is funny, isn't he?" 

Kangmin glances back at Hoyoung, then nods. Dongheon gives him a smile, the flames sinking back into his skin. 

"Your mom is right and you should definitely not speak to unfamiliar magical creatures alone." Kangmin nods again, then startles when Dongheon continues. "But even if all of us can be dangerous, it doesn't mean that all of us  _ are." _

Kangmin seems to process the thought. He's seventeen, a proper adult by the village’s standards even if Dongheon hasn’t noticed him being treated like one. He's smart, and it wasn't very likely for him to become one of those horribly narrow-minded humans but Dongheon hates the very thought anyway. Even if Hoyoung can be a pain in the ass, having people fear him and trust Dongheon instead, when Dongheon is infinitely more powerful, more dangerous-

It just doesn't sit right. 

Kangmin takes the protection spell and this time, when he glances at Hoyoung, it's with a tentative smile. He rushes out and to no one's, certainly not Dongheon's surprise, Hoyoung materializes in front of the counter instead. 

Dongheon continues to pretend he's completely alone even if the effect is just like it always is, which is none at all. 

"For someone that claims I'm annoying you sure put a lot of effort in trying to make people not hate me," Hoyoung chirps, fingers tapping on the counter. 

"You  _ are  _ annoying," Dongheon emphasizes, then zaps Hoyoung's fingers for good measure. It only earns him a giggle, even though Dongheon saw the skin go red right before vampire magic took care of it. He sighs. "If they hated you for being annoying I wouldn't mind."

He probably would hate it then too but that's a thought he doesn't enjoy entertaining. 

"Thank you," Hoyoung says softly, hand hovering over Dongheon's for a moment before it retreats. He barely has any body heat left from the last time he fed, yet Dongheon feels it all the same. 

He looks up, finally, and the look in Hoyoung's eyes, his smile, are just as soft as his voice. His eyes are still blue but like his body heat, the color is chipping away at the edges the longer he goes without feeding. If he tries hard enough, Dongheon can probably see flecks of brown already showing in his irises.

“Yeah,” he says in the end, then goes back to his work, determined to keep pretending Hoyoung is not there. If anyone would see him, they would most definitely not see him sporting the same soft look even as Dongheon turns his back on him.

*

They met maybe twenty years ago. Or thirty? It feels like moments but that’s the risk of being immortal.

Dongheon has always been a loner - mostly by choice but occasionally by force too. Being the bastard child of a dark witch and a light one means he’s always too dark for covens of light and way too bright for the dark ones. He was mostly fine, too, living among humans and helping them with healing spells, protections, little things that fancy witches rarely bothered with, especially not for commoners. The humans weren’t exactly welcoming either but Dongheon figured that as long as he helped them they’d leave him alone.

Other magical creatures weren’t much better. Witches were always known as stuck up assholes and for the most part, magical beings stuck to their own kind. But then there’s Dongheon - not witch enough for other witches, too witch for everyone else.

So it was fine, living on his own. 

Then Hoyoung showed up on his doorstep, pale and bloody, eyes brown all the way to his pupils and the light flickering out of them.

*

It’s not exactly forbidden for a witch and a vampire to coexist in the same space because no two magical species would agree to obey the same laws. It is, however, a bit of a taboo. Vampires, almost as bad as witches, stick to their own but unlike witches, they need humans to survive which makes them outcasts there, too.

Dongheon finds it kind of funny, really. Humans will fear vampires because they occasionally need blood but praise witches, who can do so much worse than kill them.

In theory, having Hoyoung around isn’t all that good for business because of that fear. Dongheon hasn’t had the displeasure of experiencing it for the past decade or so but most customers weren’t as understanding as Kangmin was. After the first few incidents, Hoyoung has taken to staying out of sight, even if Dongheon has never asked him to. It’s not a chore, considering Hoyoung can’t exist in the light and Dongheon rarely gets customers after sundown. He seems to have a soft spot for children, though. It’s even rarer for a child to show up after dark and Dongheon vividly remembers one of the incidents: a young girl, maybe twelve or so, running away, terrified, when Hoyoung smiled at her with a little less care in hiding his fangs. Hoyoung had ended up locking himself in his room until his hunger ate away more than half of the blue in his eyes. They haven’t had many children after that but the few that happened to stop by, Hoyoung kept showing up anyway, smiley still but more careful with his fangs. 

*

“I’m going to need to feed soon,” Hoyoung announces one day, wringing his hands together.

Dongheon bites back a sigh of relief. The brown flecks in Hoyoung’s eyes have been getting more pronounced lately, enough to be noticed from a distance, too. 

“Took you long enough,” he says instead, heart rate kicking up when he finally turns. Hoyoung is in a shirt, unbuttoned all the way down and hanging loose off one shoulder. 

It’s necessary. Dongheon knows it is but he’s the one that requested no full nudity even if clothing, partial as it is, makes the spellwork harder. He pulls the jars of enchanted ink and gets his brush ready as Hoyoung hops on the counter.

He stays quiet as Dongheon rearranges his limbs for easier access. Hoyoung waits until he is done before speaking up. 

“You know I don’t like doing it.” he says, voice low.

Dongheon pauses, the tip of the brush mere centimetres away from Hoyoung’s skin. There’s no snarky comment this time and he meets Hoyoung’s eyes as he lets the wisps of light crawl up his arm, then wrap around the brush. Unlike the small demonstration for Kangmin, this time Dongheon does need his magic. It weaves itself around his shoulders, his neck, nudges into the corners of his eyes. He knows it discolors them to a somewhat translucent white, too. 

If common folk could see him right now, Dongheon is fairly sure Hoyoung with his pretty blue eyes and sunshine smile and fangs would be the last thing on their minds.

“I also know it gets worse the longer you let it go on. You’re strong and my magic is, too. You’re not going to hurt anyone.”

Dongheon lets his magic guide the brush through drawing the strength spell. It’s not mere physical strength - that can be fixed with a simple potion. It’s strength of the mind; resilience, bravery. Hoyoung has them without spellwork too, but he wants the spells every time he feeds anyway. 

The lines of the spell glitter black before they settle into Hoyoung’s skin, right over his heart. He waits for Dongheon to change his jar.

“I like seeing the color come back to my eyes.” Hoyoung says, knowing full well that Dongheon is otherwise preoccupied. 

Dongheon’s magic insists he keeps the spellwork going and there are two more spells left, one of which will not work without the light magic in it. He has no time to reply, to speak at all and Hoyoung knows it. 

So Dongheon doesn’t try to push his words where they aren’t wanted and continues with his spellwork. One more strength spell and then the biggest one, the one he let his magic loose for: a sun spell.

That one wraps around Hoyoung’s neck like a collar, goes up to his cheekbones and around one of his eyes. It’ll make him look human to strangers - hide the color of his eyes, his hair. Most importantly, it will make him invincible to sunlight. Daylight means less vampires in general because not many can afford a sun spell, even less can find a witch of light to perform it. It’s hard and exhausting, wrangling the nature of a supernatural being into something you can control. Something you can  _ change. _

It’s particularly hard for Dongheon because his blood runs with as much light as it does with darkness but he’s long since learned how to grit his teeth through the painful resistance his dark magic puts up. He’s not sure if Hoyoung knows how complicated it is and what a sun spell means to a witch, moreso to a witch like Dongheon. He’s even less sure why he performs it every few months, for someone he claims he dislikes.

But that’s the thing: he doesn’t. 

When Hoyoung’s spells are complete and he’s long since hopped off the counter, gone out the door to clear the brown out of his eyes, Dongheon lays in his bed, exhausted and staring at the ceiling. 

_ I like seeing the color come back to my eyes.  _ The words are an endless loop in his mind. It’s almost funny how those same words mean two completely different things to the two of them.

Because Hoyoung’s eyes aren’t blue, not really. They were the dark brown he showed up on Dongheon’s doorstep with and they’re the dark brown that chips away at his blue irises the longer he goes without feeding. They were brown before he turned and they’ll go brown after, the closer he gets to death. 

Dongheon doesn’t know the specifics behind the turning, only that it was violent. The unnatural, vampiric blue probably tells a whole different story in Hoyoung’s mind. 

And yet, Hoyoung’s eyes are just as pretty brown as they are blue.

But what does pretty mean, really, if it comes at the price of a life?

*

Hoyoung comes back two days later. There's still about a day left of the sun spell and he spends it in Dongheon's garden, sprawled out on an old rug and staring at the sun, even though the afternoon sunlight is already causing red spots on his skin. It won't be truly harmful for another day but Dongheon can feel that the magic is tired, ready to let go. 

Hoyoung's eyes are a brilliant, bright blue and Dongheon doesn't ask. 

*

Kangmin shows up a few days after Hoyoung comes back, after nightfall, no request from his mom this time. He glances around once, twice, eyes flickering to every corner like something is going to jump at him from the dark. Or maybe someone.

“My mom is saying mean things about vampires,” he says, hands clasped behind his back. “That they’re all evil and should… stop existing.” Dongheon is willing to bet that those were not the words used. Kangmin looks up at him, determined like only a seventeen year old can be. “Your vampire seems nice. Is it okay if I talk to him?”

Dongheon’s face does- something. Referring to Hoyoung as  _ his  _ vampire, while not technically inaccurate, makes his whole being rebel against the very thought. It also makes something warm flood his insides but he chalks that up to being proud of the resolve in Kangmin’s eyes. 

Hoyoung materializes like he’s been listening to the conversation. It isn’t a stretch, considering his vampire senses and his general nosiness. 

“Hi,” he grins, white-blonde hair falling into his eyes. 

Vampires are all beautiful, it’s part of their nature as predators. Still, sometimes Dongheon finds it unfair just how pretty Hoyoung is. He looks adorable with his blue eyes and full cheeks and  _ the dimple. _ Dongheon absently pokes at his own cheekbone. Too bad witch magic doesn’t come with extra appearance benefits.

"You're not allowed out of sight." Dongheon states. Kangmin huffs like he was expecting it but Hoyoung pouts. "Stop that," Dongheon says with an eye roll. "It's not about you, can you imagine how Mrs Yoo would react if she knew I left her kid with the very creature she warned him against, without supervision?"

“I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t be happy about letting him talk to me in the first place,” Hoyoung counters. 

It is true. Dongheon zaps a stream of magic at Hoyoung’s forehead anyway. 

“Stop arguing before I take away your shop visit rights as well.” his says, mouth thinning. 

“I’m not an actual child,” Hoyoung says evenly and it’s playful still, but Dongheon can feel an undercurrent of  _ something.  _ He doesn’t allow himself to dwell on it too much.

“You’re not but I can and will cage you into your room until you learn some respect.”

Hoyoung rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue further. 

As they move to the opposite corner of the shop, Kangmin glances at Dongheon, then at Hoyoung. “Can he really do that?”

“Unfortunately,” Hoyoung grumbles, settling at the working table in the back of the shop. “Never get involved with witches, seriously.”

*

It keeps happening. Kangmin will show up every other day and take up one of the spare work tables in the shop along with Hoyoung. Sometimes they laugh loud enough that Dongheon has to shush them. Sometimes the time passes in hushed whispers and Dongheon is  _ curious  _ but he doesn’t pry.

Hoyoung seems to enjoy Kangmin’s visits a lot, judging by how he shows up at the shop almost always now, right after sundown. He even attempts baking a few times, refusing to tell where he knows them from and forcing Dongheon to taste-test everything because  _ I’m a vampire, Dongheon, everything tastes like ash to me.  _ The smile when Kangmin compliments one of Hoyoung’s cookie attempts is bright enough to light up the entire shop.

After about two weeks, Dongheon has accepted this as a routine: Kangmin will be in the shop more often than not. While he can’t stay for long in case his mom worries, every other day has now turned in almost every day.

A week after that, Hoyoung pulls Dongheon aside, as soon as the door closes behind Kangmin.

“I think he has magic.”

Dongheon blinks at him, then at the door. “What?”

“He’s not like you, obviously,” Hoyoung hurries to explain. “I don’t think he’s a pure witch either. But he told me about how sometimes things randomly set on fire around him, especially when there’s a storm.” He rubs at his eyes and Dongheon is momentarily distracted by a tiny brown spot in one of them. Hoyoung sighs. “I may not be a witch but I can feel magic too. When he was talking about it, there were specs of magic in the air and it wasn’t yours.”

Dongheon is abruptly brought back into the present. Setting things on fire. During storms. 

“Elemental witch,” Dongheon breathes, snapping his fingers towards one of the bookshelves. A book flies out of it, then lands in his open hand. 

Hoyoung stares at him. “Am I supposed to know what that means? I thought witches could only be light and dark. And well, you.”

“Yes, but also no,” Dongheon says, not missing the chance to glare. “Pure witches hate each other and think they’re better than everyone but there is always the occasional fling with a human. If it produces a child, it’s usually an elemental witch.”

“Is it rare?” Hoyoung asks, trying to peek into the book. 

As Dongheon flips the page, he lowers it a little. “Not exactly. Elemental witches as a species are probably one of the more common kinds. The thing is, they rarely ever realize they have magic since the witch part of the relationship usually ditches right away and the vast majority of pure witches are too proud to mingle with humans on the regular.”

“Kangmin mentioned he doesn’t have a father,” Hoyoung mumbles, eyes trailing over the pages of the book. It’s written in demonspeak because it was stolen from the dark half of Dongheon’s parents, his mom. There are the occasional illustrations though, and the particular one Hoyoung’s eyes have settled on is of a human suspended mid-air, flailing, fire bursting out of his mouth, his eyes, his nose.

Dongheon finds it hard to take his eyes off the illustration. “His mom once told me that his father died a long time ago and they don’t have a man in the house, that’s why she needs this many protection spells.”

“Is it possible that she wants to protect them from Kangmin’s father?”

“Definitely,” Dongheon sighs. “She never told me something specific she wants protection from so I’ve been preparing them all-purpose, so to say? It includes magical beings too, that’s the only thing she specifically requested but I figured it’s because… humans, you know?”

“The boy in this picture,” Hoyoung says quietly. “He looks like he’s in pain.”

The book slams closed and flies back to the shelf it came from. It startles Hoyoung and it’s then that Dongheon realizes just how close they are. He takes a small step back, leaning on the shop counter. Hoyoung doesn’t follow.

“He  _ was  _ in pain.” Dongheon starts slowly, There are two ways elemental witch stories end. One, they never realize they have any magic and live normal human lives. If the magic is never awakened it doesn’t alter their lifespan because it’s easier for the human part of them to take over.” He pauses and is thankful when Hoyoung doesn’t urge him to go on. “The second way… Let’s say their magic awakens. Magic reacts to magic and if they are in contact with an active witch, there is a high chance their own magic becomes active, too. Pure witches, even mixed ones like me, are taught to control their magic since the day they’re born. At the very least, they can learn by example. Humans are not prepared for that and magic needs an outlet or it’ll explode.”

“That boy in the book,” Hoyoung mumbles. “He was exploding?” 

Dongheon nods. “You know how magical beings are regarded in the human world. Imagine being born with powers in a family convinced that magic means the devil. A lot of times, it pushes them to bottle it up, to pretend it’s not there.” He glances back at his bookshelf. “It ends up like that boy in the picture. If they choose to accept it, they become like me - pure witches are generally too arrogant to take a baby human under their wing and other humans only tolerate magic if it’s of use to them. Elemental witches tend to be really good at what their element is and mediocre at best at everything else.”

Hoyoung leans on the counter next to Dongheon, absently staring at the door. “It’s not impossible for an elemental witch to survive on their own, is it?”

“I don’t think so. But it’s really hard. They have no one, and the longer the magic has been hibernating the harder it is for it to wake up. Active elemental witches usually start quite young.”

“Then he won’t be alone,” Hoyoung states, the faraway look in his eyes replaced by pure resolve. “We’re probably the reason his magic is starting to wake up, you can teach him how to control and hide it and he won’t have to leave his life here.”

It’s near impossible but looking at Hoyoung, the determination in his eyes, Dongheon thinks that near impossible is not the same as impossible.

“Yeah. I can.” Dongheon says in the end. He has no idea how to teach someone, let alone a type of witch he’s never encountered before but Kangmin is a sweet kid. He doesn’t deserve the life of an outcast.

He won’t have it, not if Dongheon has anything to say about it.

*

“Hey Kangmin,” Hoyoung grins when Kangmin next comes over. “Mind if Dongheon joins us this time?”

Kangmin’s expression immediately turns to suspicion. “Sure?”

It’s awkward for the first few seconds after they sit down. No one says anything, the tension almost palpable, until Dongheon blurts out, “Hoyoung told me you’ve set things on fire.”

“Very smooth,” Hoyoung hisses. The look of betrayal on Kangmin’s face doesn’t need any words.

Dongheon doesn’t know how to make things better, so he does what he does best: lets his magic take over. His hand bursts into flames, real ones this time and both Kangmin and Hoyoung jump back.

“I thought the fire you can make is black,” Kangmin says, voice trembling a little, eyes never leaving the flames.

“I can do a lot of things,” Dongheon smiles, allowing the flames to settle down until they barely flicker at the tips of his fingers. “I think some of them you can do, too.”

Kangmin doesn’t seem all that surprised and Dongheon wonders how many times he’s considered that same thing. How scary it must have been.

“But it only happens when there is a storm?” Kangmin says, trailing off into a question like he isn’t sure himself.

Dongheon lets the flames die and clasps his hands in his lap. “Some witches have a specific element that their magic is strongest at. Storms have rain, wind, thunder and lightning. I think one of those, or maybe a few, are your element. Does your mom know about the fires?”

“Only the first one,” Kangmin mumbles. “I was scared so I went to her but she got really mad and I was more scared of her than the fire when the other flames happened.”

“There is nothing wrong with you,” Dongheon says, even though Kangmin has never suggested so. He remembers his mom kicking him out as soon as he was old enough to take care of his magic, remembers the feeling of _ being odd. _ “Nothing,” he repeats, ignoring Kangmin’s surprise and the unreadable look on Hoyoung’s face. “Just because you’re a little different or because you can do things others can't, it’s not wrong.  _ You’re  _ not wrong.”

The little outburst leaves him drained. No one says anything for a long time, the silence only broken by Kangmin’s quiet _ thank you. _

*

“You were really good with him,” Hoyoung says when Kangmin leaves for the night, not without a promise to come back the next day.

His voice is soft in a way Dongheon isn’t quite sure how to deal with. So he does what he does best - avoids it. 

“Of course I am, I’m used to dealing with children.” He gives Hoyoung a meaningful glance but Hoyoung isn’t laughing. His expression reads more like resignation, before it closes off completely and finally, finally Hoyoung smiles.

“Right.”

The smile remains, still sunshine because it’s Hoyoung but it feels more like watching a very nice painting of a sun, rather than feeling its rays. Somehow, Dongheon isn’t happy to see it. 

Once again, he doesn’t know how to deal with the feeling. So he doesn’t.

*

Kangmin turns out to be a fast learner, even if an impatient one.

“Weren’t you supposed to teach me how to control the flames?” Kangmin grumbles when he’s introduced to a stack of books heavy enough to be considered weapons. “Why do I have to learn about real witches?”

Dongheon can feel his eye twitch. “You are a real witch as well. Just a different one, and you need to learn about the others because you’re going to meet a lot of them. Most of them aren’t very nice.”

That makes Kangmin pause. “Even the light ones?”

“Especially the light ones.” Dongheon didn’t expect Kangmin to know anything beyond there being two kinds of witches, if at all, but the widespread belief about what each kind means never fails to make his blood boil. “Dark doesn’t mean bad and light doesn’t mean good. They’re just powers, more heritage than anything. What each witch does with those powers is up to them and their personality.” 

Kangmin seems to consider it. “But you said light witches are not nice?” 

Dongheon laughs. “Did I? They tend to be more arrogant, usually. The real difference is that dark witches are better at offensive magic while light ones are better at defense and healing. Everything else is an exaggeration at best.”

“So what are you, then?” Kangmin asks, voice even. “What am I?”

“My mother is a dark witch, my father a light one,” Dongheon shrugs. They have that in common it seems - a missing father figure. He wonders if it’s just a mixed witch thing. “You’re… we call people like you elemental witches. It means you’re really good at something, usually nature related. This usually happens when a witch gets together with a human.”

Kangmin stays quiet for a long time. “Is this why she hates everything non-human so much? But she always comes to you for protection spells...”

That had taken a while for Dongheon to figure out too. He shrugs. “It’s probably because she knows that magic is the best defense against magic. I guess I was the lesser evil.”

“I don’t think you’re evil.” Kangmin says, voice wavering at the end. Dongheon wonders who exactly is he trying to convince.

He smiles, then lets the book in front of Kangmin close and float back on the top of the stack. “Everyone is a little evil sometimes. All we can do is to try our best not to make it a constant.”

*

Kangmin’s visits are still limited to half an hour at best but they’re regular now, he comes in every single day without fail. Hoyoung usually sticks around even if he doesn’t participate. He’s always there when Dongheon’s words fail him or he gets too deep too fast; encourages and praises Kangmin when Dongheon forgets that he’s teaching a human that just learned about his magic. Hoyoung is just there and Dongheon has never been more grateful for it.

By the third lesson, Kangmin has successfully located the core of his magic. He’s very far from learning how to tap into it, even further from manifesting it at will but both Dongheon and Hoyoung are so proud of him that Hoyoung bakes a cake for his next visit. They spend it eating the cake rather than learning and while a part of Dongheon mourns the study time, the smiles on both Kangmin and Hoyoung make up for it.

It’s beautiful. It feels right, and for a second, Dongheon is convinced they can do it. They can teach Kangmin to hide safely so he won’t have to lose his life or his family. They won’t either. Nothing has to change.

It’s a silly thought, really, and he’ll admit that later but for now, laughter feels so nice in a home that is so often silent. After all, it’s hard to focus on the clouds gathering in the distance when the sun shines so bright right above you.

*

A little after the cake lesson, Kangmin’s visits become less frequent. Sometimes it’ll go for almost a week before they see him again and Dongheon can’t help but notice that his mom has stopped coming as well.

She shows up on a warm summer night, five days since her son’s last visit.

"I was told Kangmin has been coming to you a lot lately."

Her voice is hard, polite in a way that sounds forced more than anything. Dongheon has a feeling she knows exactly what Kangmin has been doing but he decides to keep pretenses anyway.

“He has been,” he smiles, trying to project the effect Hoyoung’s smiles have on him. “He’s been getting along really well with my friend.”

“Your friend,” Mrs Yoo hisses, significantly less polite. “The vampire?”

Dongheon startles at the sheer hatred in the woman’s eyes. He has never consciously tried to hide Hoyoung’s existence and Hoyoung has never tried to hide what he is. Sure, he prefers to keep out of sight usually, and his run-ins with people are few and far between but it has never been a secret. He’d thought since people know, they would be more…

But of course not.

“He talked to Hoyoung, yes,” he confirms, ignoring the way a stray vial clatters behind him. The mix of hatred and fear Kangmin’s mom radiates makes his magic uneasy, almost angry. “I would trust Hoyoung with my life but I made sure they were never unsupervised.”

Kangmin’s mother snorts, the sound completely devoid of any amusement. “Your life means very little to me. We let you live here in peace because you were useful, not so you can taint our children with your demon work.”

The words hurt, even if Dongheon isn’t a fool. There is a reason he’s lived in this town for decades and the only person he speaks to outside of work is Hoyoung. And yet, the venom in this woman’s voice makes the infamous witch pride in his blood boil, red and vicious. He can feel his magic ripple under his skin, ready to burst out. To attack.

Dongheon pushes it down, prepares his best smile, forced as it is. “I can’t taint your child any more than you’ve already tainted him by giving him life.”

It hurts. Even more than Mrs Yoo’s words, referring to Kangmin’s magic, and by extension Dongheon’s own, as something tainted  _ hurts. _

Whatever remnants of Mrs Yoo’s politeness drains off and she just stares at him, hatred seeping from her every pore.

“You have overstayed your welcome, witch,” she says, voice even. “I will see to it.”

With that, shen turns on her heel, the door slamming shut on her way out. 

As soon as the source of negative emotions is eliminated Dongheon’s magic settles and he takes a deep breath. The negative emotions _ in him  _ remain but that’s something he’ll just have to deal with.

It’s a testament to how out of it he is that he doesn’t even register the extra presence until it’s too late.

“Hey,” Hoyoung says quietly, but even so, Dongheon startles. “Sorry. I heard what happened. What are we going to do?”

“I want to destroy them,” Dongheon mumbles, staring at the closed door. He sighs, then turns to Hoyoung. “But we’re not going to do that. We need to leave, though, and soon. We’re going to need all the time we can possibly have. Could you take your shirt off?”

Hoyoung’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second, right before he catches up. The shirt is off within moments and as Dongheon sets up his vials, he finds that for once, the sun spell feels exactly as it is: something hard and exhausting. Something very rarely followed by nice things.

*

Dongheon is meant to spend the remainder of the night resting at Hoyoung's insistence. His argument is that he has the physical strength of a vampire which is a lot to begin with but can also be easily replenished with a spell or some extra feeding if needed. Dongheon, on the other hand, needs a lot more than physical strength and his magic is vital for their escape. 

Because that's what it is - an escape. 

Dongheon prepares a list of things for Hoyoung to pack while he's out so they can hopefully leave in the morning. He traces the railing of their staircase on the way to his bedroom. It's an intricate railing, climbing roses carved into the wood. They bloom under his fingertips, magic fluttering in the air around him like the tiniest stars. He'd paid the daughter of the village's woodsmith to create the railing for him many years ago, even though magic would've been much easier. She was a brilliant artist and even though Hoyoung didn't seem to like her much, they almost became friends before she decided to go search for her luck elsewhere. She couldn't fathom why someone like Dongheon would want to stay in this small town. Back then, he wasn't sure either. 

As Dongheon sinks into his bed, most likely for the last time, he thinks about the routine he and Hoyoung had fallen into. It will be a while before he'll see Hoyoung hanging upside down a shelf just to be a pain. 

He wonders how long it will be before they have a place they can call home again. 

*

_ Dongheon.  _

Dongheon's dreams have taken him back to when Hoyoung first wound up at his doorstep. He'd just settled in his new home, hopefully his new life. Hoyoung's arrival had been a burden at best but who would just let someone  _ die  _ when they could prevent it? 

_ Dongheon, please.  _

Hoyoung's voice sounds more urgent than Dongheon remembers it. Even more, he hadn't known Dongheon's name then, not yet. 

_ Dongheon, I'm sorry, please wake up.  _

Dongheon startles, eyes flying open. Hoyoung is above him, looking just as frazzled as his voice sounds. For a moment, his expression softens and he brushes a strand of hair out of Dongheon's face. 

“I’m so sorry,” he murmurs, the sun spell glittering around his eyes. It looks gorgeous in the sun but there is none now, replaced instead by cloudy daylight and the quiet patter of rain on Dongheon’s window. A blink of an eye, and the moment is broken. Hoyoung’s expression is back to urgency, fear. “I know you need the rest but I have no idea what to do.”

Whatever remnants of sleep clung to Dongheon’s consciousness, they drain away in a moment. Because a worried Hoyoung is something to take seriously always but even without it, the faint taste of magic in the air makes Dongheon’s own uneasy. Scared.

He doesn’t let Hoyoung finish, instead flies out of his bed and down the stairs. No roses bloom this time; there is no time. In their kitchen, the same kitchen they shared Kangmin’s celebratory cake, Kangmin is now slouched on a chair. His clothes look worse for the wear, certainly worse than Dongheon has seen him so far. There are scratches running up his arms where his sleeves are rolled up. With horror, Dongheon finds out his face is covered in scratches, too.

“I already treated the wounds,” Hoyoung says next to him. 

Once Dongheon manages to stop staring at the scratches, he notices the vials of potion spread on the kitchen table. They’re his healing ones and the correct types for Kangmin’s injuries, too. Dongheon knows because he made them. How Hoyoung knows…

But there will be time for that later, hopefully.

Dongheon kneels in front of Kangmin’s chair, gently lifting his chin to meet his eyes. Kangmin avoids them anyway. “Was it your mom?”

“She said I have the devil in me,” Kangmin mumbles. "I told her you were both really nice to me and I told her about the cake and the cookies but it just made her more angry." He looks up, finally, and the scratches on his face pale next to the empty look in his eyes. "She said they're going to deal with the evil in this town. I think she meant you."

There's a quiet curse from Hoyoung and he rushes out the room. Dongheon knows what it means: they'll need to leave much faster than intended. He pushes down the urge to follow, to help. They have so many things to do. 

"What about you?" He asks instead, and Kangmin startles, like he never considered it. "Can you go back?"

He stares at the scratches down his arms, then at Dongheon. "I'm not sure. She was still screaming when I ran away. Is it bad that I'm scared?"

“Not at all,” Dongheon says without thinking. It is, just not for the reasons Kangmin is probably thinking about. Dongheon’s own mother wasn’t a model parent by a long shot, always reminding him that he is not to be part of her family. That he’ll be on his own as soon as he can survive alone. And yet, Dongheon was never scared of her. 

“I didn’t want to tell her,” Kangmin starts when the silence stretches a bit too long. “I was sneaking out to come here and she didn’t know. She said someone from town saw me a few times, so they were convinced it wasn’t about errands. I tried to lie,” a stray tear slides down his cheek, followed by a sniffle. Then more tears. “You’re leaving because of me, aren’t you? Because you found out about my stupid powers and now you have to leave.”

He gets quieter with each word, barely above a whisper at the end. Dongheon has never hated humans more in his lifetime.

“We’re leaving because this place is full of hateful creatures,” Hoyoung’s says, not a hint of doubt in his voice. “You’re one of the best things that happened to us here.” 

Dongheon didn’t even notice him approaching but of course he didn’t. Hoyoung doesn’t particularly like using the physical advantages of being a vampire but he has them all the same. He could probably hear their conversation the entire time. 

“You are,” Dongheon smiles, wiping the tears off Kangmin’s cheeks. “You’re also welcome to come with us. I would never make you leave your home but if you want to, the opportunity is there. We’d love to have you as a permanent part of our family.”

_ Family. _ It occurs to Dongheon that he’s never called what he and Hoyoung have as that: family. But it is. And whether either of them realized it or not, Kangmin has long since become part of that family and just thinking of leaving him behind leaves Dongheon’s chest hollow.

It wasn’t a lie; he would never make Kangmin leave but he hopes they leave together, all three of them. If only so Kangmin’s mom would never be able to do that to him a second time.

Kangmin stares at him, expression unreadable. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course,” Dongheon says with no hesitation. “You’re free to say no if you’d like to stay here, neither of us would be mad. We won’t be able to stay much longer but there is still a bit of time.”

“You may want to reconsider that,” Hoyoung says, glancing out the window. He looks worried, his vampire senses picking up things the rest of them can’t yet. “I can hear heartbeats, a lot of them. They’re getting closer.”

_ “We are going to deal with the evil,” _ Kangmin mumbles, eyes wide. “They are coming for you, aren’t they?”

“You just stay here,” Dongheon says, frantically checking the house’s protection. Everything is still in place and the magic tingles with the oncoming threat. The spells are strong but they are only that, spells. Created mostly to protect against different magic. Humans are a whole other thing entirely.

Dongheon grips Hoyoung’s wrist and leads him outside, side stepping piles of books and vials they have yet to pack. 

“We may need to fight,” Hoyoung points out, glancing at the closed door.

“I know,” Dongheon sighs. “Offensive magic isn’t my strongest, though. And with my powers not at their best...”

_ “We _ may need to fight, Dongheon,” Hoyoung repeats. “Not  _ you.  _ This is my home as well. We’ll get out of this alive, together.”

*

They wait for the townspeople at the porch, outside. The rain has let up for now but it's still dark and the clouds provide a natural shield against direct sunlight. It would not be enough to keep Hoyoung safe but for now, it’s enough to lessen the spell’s workload, hopefully to help it last longer. Still, Hoyoung stays a few steps back, in the shade of the house. Deep inside, Dongheon hopes that they may talk it out so he and Hoyoung can leave and be out of their way without much commotion.

The whole town is there. Women, men, even some older children. Most of them are holding torches even though some hold no flames, probably put out by the rain. The people that don’t have torches, lit or otherwise, carry other things - pitchforks, mostly. The daughter of the town’s baker is carrying a dusty rolling pin and Dongheon has to stifle a laugh.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he starts, voice as polite as he can make it. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you, we’re leaving town soon.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” a burly man yells from the back. Dongheon squints - it’s Mr Lee, the butcher, and as usual, he’s waving around a huge cleaver. Except usually, the cleaver exists in his shop. Not in Dongheon’s garden.

“We have been so welcoming to you,” one of the town elders starts, voice solemn. Dongheon used to like her. “And you repay us by tainting our children. That is enough, demon. You shall harm no more.”

Dongheon is no fool. He knew that humans fear him and fear is merely a step away from hatred. And yet, he’d let himself believe that he’d almost fit in, in a way. In this small town, where he’s helped or healed every resident at one point or another. The elders are no different. 

“Demon?” Hoyoung hisses, stepping out from the shade. “Did he not nurse your own daughter back to life?” 

The daughter in question cowers but Hoyoung’s words are drowned out by a wave of frantic, hushed whispers. They all know what he is and it makes the concealing part of the sun spell useless. The dark lines on his cheeks, around his eyes are visible to everyone. And the most telling part: Hoyoung, a vampire, standing in the sun.

“Dark magic,” Kangmin’s mother hisses. Dongheon wants to laugh. 

One of the other elders steps up, his face a storm of hatred. “You bring one of those among us, then make it invincible to the only protection we have against it.”

There’s another rush of hushed whispers and belatedly, Dongheon realizes that his magic, weak as it is, is pouring out of him, wrapping around his body in a mix of black flames and blinding light. The torch trembles in the elder’s hand and his eyes tremble with fear, even if the hatred never left them.

_ “He _ is a person,” Dongheon says evenly. “A person who hasn’t hurt either of you. You were welcoming to me,” he mocks. “You left us alone because I was useful but as soon as you’re reminded I’m not merely a healer you’re all,” he gestures vaguely at the crowd. “You’re that.”

“As we should’ve been from the start,” the elder grits, venom dripping from his voice. He rushes forward and too late, Dongheon notices that it’s not only a torch he’s holding. 

For all the power witches have, at the end of the day their bodies are still painfully human. Vulnerable. There are spells to protect them and spells to heal them but when faced with a blade, a witch bleeds just like a human would.

That’s what Dongheon is thinking about, frozen in place as he watches the blade glint in the elder’s hand. 

But the pain never comes. Instead, there is a flurry of white-blonde and for a moment, everything stills. In the silence that follows, the elder’s body thumps on the ground at Dongheon’s feet. When he looks up Hoyoung is facing away but not enough for Dongheon to miss his eyes. The blue is gone and replaced by red, just like the blood dripping from his palm where Hoyoung is still holding the knife. Ironically, the elder hasn’t shed a drop of blood, even if his head is turned at an impossible angle.

Hoyoung stares at his closing wounds, unblinking, expression void of any emotion.

_ "Murderer!" _ someone shouts and Dongheon knows all these people by name, can tell their voices apart but right now, he has no idea who it is. It doesn't matter. All that matters is the way Hoyoung flinches, staring at nothing at all. 

Dongheon's magic roars and pools around him, molding itself into neat little spheres of concentrated power. 

Amidst the commotion, there is a quiet whine of  _ “Mom.” _

Like one, every pair of eyes in Dongheon’s garden lands on the person the voice belongs to. Dongheon follows, only to find Kangmin leaning against his doorway, hands wrapped around himself and eyes full of magic. Thunder crackles around them, the sky cut in two by a lightning bright enough to be a sun.

“Mom, do you have to? They didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You’re one of them,” his mother says. It’s not a question, there is no denial. Her voice is empty, void of emotion. “I tried so hard to raise you well and you still ended up one of them. Like  _ him.”  _ She stares at Kangmin, unblinking, and Dongheon has a feeling it’s not her son’s face she’s seeing. “I failed,” she says in the end and for once, Dongheon can’t find anything but sadness, regret. It’s pouring out of her in waves, until it stops. Her eyes fall on Dongheon again and the hatred is back like it never left. 

“You’re going to pay.”

It takes a while for the following moments to process through Dongheon’s mind. If feels like everything happens in slow motion: Kangmin’s mother rushing forward and Dongheon preparing for the impact, spheres of magic stacking around him like a wall. Except it’s not Dongheon Kangmin’s mother aims at.

In any other situation, it wouldn’t work. Hoyoung is too fast and too smart but he’s not that now, still staring at nothing, red eyes glinting like an abandoned lighthouse in the storm. Belatedly, Dongheon realizes there’s something in the woman’s hand, long and sharp. He remembers it. A piece of an ancient gravestone, carved like a dagger because the only way to fight death is with more death. Of course he remembers it - he was the one who made it. Long ago, before he even moved here, Dongheon experimented with offensive magic. He made the dagger mostly for the sake of it, dared by his only friend at the time. He regretted it right away. It ended up locked away until it disappeared, along with his friend. Dongheon has no idea how it ended up in this woman’s hands but he doesn’t have time to think about it either.

Frozen with horror, Dongheon watches as the stone drives through Hoyoung’s heart. 

All at once, the spheres fall apart and Dongheon’s magic ripples through the air. There is a scream somewhere to the side, most likely Kangmin but Dongheon doesn’t care to listen. He throws himself over them, drags Kangmin’s mother away from where Hoyoung’s body has crumpled on the porch, back against one of the wooden beams. Dongheon kneels in front of him, cradling his face in his palms. 

“They’re brown now, aren’t they? Like they were before. Do you like them?” Hoyoung mumbles, voice barely there. It’s interrupted by a cough, and when Dongheon glances down, there is a splatter of blood on his hand. 

“I like you alive,” Dongheon says, just as quietly. He takes the dagger out but the poison is already spreading. There is no way to come back from this, Dongheon made sure of it when he made it all those years ago.

"We can't always get what we want, can we?" Hoyoung whispers, smiling even now. There is a crack of thunder and the rain starts up again, heavier than before. Raindrops splash against the porch and the two of them and Dongheon isn't sure whether it's rain or tears falling down his face. 

Slowly, Hoyoung lifts a hand to cup Dongheon’s cheek but loses strength halfway, so Dongheon does it for him. “You have to help Kangmin for both of us, okay?” There is a pause and Dongheon allows himself to meet Hoyoung’s eyes for once. They’re brown, so dark they’re almost black. Hoyoung smiles, tired and barely-there. “I wish I could see them.” 

His voice trails off into silence at the end. His eyes are slipping shut and the quieter the words get, the louder Dongheon’s chant of  _ no, no, no _ becomes. 

There is more screaming around them, multiple people, thunder cracking up the sky close, too close to them. But it all feels like it’s outside noise, Dongheon locked here in his bubble of pain, watching light leave the eyes of possibly the only person who has ever truly cared about him.

It’s gone. Hoyoung lies there, limp and empty and smiling. Parts of the sun spell still cling to his skin but the majority of it crawls back into Dongheon, left without a life to wrap around.

One, two, three. Dongheon forces himself to focus on the present. Kangmin is still there and so are the horde of angry humans. Dongheon no longer thinks of them by name; they’re simply the creatures that took away his only source of light.

Now that he’s somewhat present again, Dongheon finds that it’s not simply the rain getting heavier. It has formed a curtain of water around them, sliding off the roof of the porch like a waterfall. Kangmin is still by the door, shivering, and Dongheon squeezes his hand. Truth to be told, he has no idea what to do. This was always Hoyoung’s specialty, being nice to people. But Kangmin seems to appreciate the contact. 

It’s a futile gesture of comfort anyway: the humans are starting to realize the rain can’t really stop them physically. Kangmin is shivering again and it only gets worse when the first person to pass through the water curtain is Kangmin’s mother.

She’s holding the dagger again and Dongheon curses himself for not destroying it earlier. 

“This will end today,” she says, her voice oddly resigned. The water curtain has washed the blood off the dagger but Dongheon can see it all the same.

Seeing the future has never been one of Dongheon’s stronger abilities but it doesn’t take a seer to know that Mrs Yoo is right. One way or another, it will end today.

He prepares spheres of offensive magic, ready to attack as soon as the woman makes a step forward.

The one that does take a step forward is Kangmin himself. Thunder crashes into Dongheon’s garden and one of his rose bushes bursts into flames. 

“Mama,” he says, quiet and pleading. “Is it not enough? Did you not cause enough pain?”

“They made you like him,” she hisses. "I did not raise a child of evil."

"We are not all like him," Dongheon says softly. For a moment, the hatred in Mrs Yoo's face clears, giving way to years old pain. 

Thunder crashes again, closer this time, and she glances at what’s visible from the sky through the water curtain. "Does it really matter?"

“Mommy,” Kangmin says, voice caught somewhere between a sob and a plea. Blue light crackles around him, something like lightning but not quite. The house's protection spells ripple, sensing the foreign magic. 

Like an elastic band snapping into place, Kangmin's mother whips back, eyes empty and dagger raised high. 

Kangmin no longer bothers to try and hide that he's crying. The magic around him grows in strength and intensity and Dongheon only has time to breathe a  _ Kangmin, no!  _ before Mrs Yoo charges forward and for the second time that day, one of Dongheon's worst nightmares comes true. 

He gets to witness an elemental witch explode. 

Without thinking, he grabs hold of Kangmin's hand and forces whatever healing magic he can muster through Kangmin's body in a desperate attempt to protect him from his own magic. It does nothing to stop the force of the explosion, though. 

The protection spells around the house hiss against the force of the blast and a few of the smaller crumple. Dongheon's curtains catch fire and it will probably spread to some of the furniture but l hopefully the remaining spells will prevent most of the damage. 

The same can’t be said for everything else.

There is no water curtain anymore but the storm is deafening and Dongheon can see the force of Kangmin’s magic washing over everything like a tidal wave. What’s left of Dongheon’s garden is on fire and so are the humans, swallowed up by flames that seem to only get stronger with the rain. The noise of the storm drowns out their screams and Dongheon is grateful; he doesn't have enough power to save them without sacrificing himself in the process, which would mean letting go of Kangmin, which… 

No. 

The scene around them only gets worse, the fire spreading through the trees and on its way to town. So Dongheon squeezes his eyes shut and concentrates on the shield around Kangmin's body instead. 

It feels like centuries before the explosion settles. There are still flames flickering here and there but the rain puts them out this time, instead of spreading them further. Dongheon waits for the last fire to go out before he lets go of Kangmin's hand. 

As soon as the shield drops, Kangmin's body falls on the ground. Dongheon rushes over and breathes a sigh of relief when he feels the steady beat of his heart. 

At least he could save one of them. 

There is the sound of a cough to the side and Dongheon startles, just as Kangmin's mother tries to turn on her back. He walks over on wobbly legs, then kneels next to her head. There is a sick sort of satisfaction to the way she can't seem to get enough air. She doesn't have much life left in her but it's enough for Dongheon's magic to wrap around it and save her. He doesn't.

"I can save you," he says quietly. It's not a question but then again, maybe it is. It's not a decision either but maybe it's that, too.

"You can," she agrees. Her voice sounds like it's coming through a wall of hot embers. "You don't want to. It's fine," another cough, worse this time. "I don't want to either."

There is none of the hatred on her face this time.

There is nothing, really.

"I hate everything you are," Kangmin's mother says with the same voice Dongheon imagines she'd announce dinner. She glances at Kangmin, even though she probably doesn't see more than his ankles from this angle. "I hate everything he is, too." More coughing, and Dongheon can feel her life flickering away; it's no longer enough to be saved. Mrs Yoo looks up at him, something like a smile tugging at her lips. "I hope you are better to him than I was."

A stuttering breath, followed by another, then she’s gone. 

There is a terrifying moment of silence. The rain is gone and so is the thunder, all the noise the people in his garden made what feels like centuries ago. Dongheon doubts it was more than a few minutes. Kangmin is unconscious, his mother is dead and so is… everyone else. So is Hoyoung. He won’t look at Hoyoung’s limp body but he walks towards it anyway. Now that there is no rush, when everything is quiet, everything feels like an especially bad nightmare, except the morning never comes.

As he kneels in front of Hoyoung once again, Dongheon allows himself a moment to exist in a reality in which Hoyoung doesn’t.

It takes only that moment for him to refuse it.

All the protection he has put on the house through the years slides off its walls, pooling around him and trickling back into his body, expanding in a whirlwind of black and white. Dongheon’s lips form words he’s never spoken before, a spell he’s never seen. It claws its way out of his throat with a mind of its own, sucks the magic out of him with a force that a mere sun spell could never dream of. 

Everything flows straight into Hoyoung’s body. Dongheon can feel the points of connection: his palms, his knee where it touches Hoyoung’s. But it’s not enough. The spell wants more and he hugs Hoyoung instead, wraps around him until there is no place where their bodies aren’t touching and so the magic can go through freely. It’s painful; there are a hundred explosions going off on Dongheon’s skin, thousands more in the core of his magic.

A moment or an eternity later, Hoyoung’s arm twitches. 

The explosion didn’t leave much noise behind but even if it did, Dongheon doubts he would’ve noticed. He doesn’t want to know. Doesn’t  _ care  _ because Hoyoung’s eyes are blinking open, slow but undeniably alive. The color is fading from his hair by the second, his skin so pale it’s almost translucent and he’s never looked less human even if the vampiric blue is gone, too. It doesn’t matter. Hoyoung is  _ alive. _

Dongheon feels like a shell, exhausted and drained of magic but the rush of seeing Hoyoung looking at him is enough to keep him going for now. 

"Am I dead?" He asks, voice laced in confusion. 

Dongheon laughs, loud and manic and it doesn’t even matter that part of it is that he’s still clinging to Hoyoung like a lifeline. He cups Hoyoung’s cheeks, smooths wet hair out of his eyes. “I told you I liked you alive, didn’t I?”

Hoyoung’s heart doesn’t beat but it never did anyway. He’s still a vampire. His eyes are still dark, dark brown and he needs to feed and Dongheon-

Does nothing, because Hoyoung’s arms raise to wrap around his waist, pull him closer than he already is.

Dongheon thinks he should probably protest on principle but he doesn’t feel like it, not at all when Hoyoung is there and alive.

The kiss catches him off guard, though.

Hoyoung’s lips mold against his own, cold because Hoyoung still needs to feed. Just like before, Dongheon can’t find it in himself to protest. He melts into it, braces himself on Hoyoung’s shoulders and kisses deeper because there may not be a heartbeat matching his own but the pressure of Hoyoung’s hands makes up for it.

Separating feels like a mistake more than a lot of mistakes in Dongheon’s life have but the exhaustion is starting to catch up with him. There probably aren’t many humans left around, if any.

Dongheon threads his fingers through Hoyoung’s hair, even though the rain doesn’t make it the most pleasant of experiences. “You need to feed.”

“Not now, not here,” Hoyoung says immediately. His voice wavers, eyes darting to Dongheon’s neck. Dongheon lets his head fall to the side, exposed but still able to meet Hoyoung’s eyes.

“Now,” he insists. “Here. And from me. You know it won’t hurt me, not really.”

To no one’s surprise, Hoyoung is too stubborn to concede even if he can’t seem to take his eyes off the exposed skin of Dongheon’s neck. There isn’t enough magic left in Dongheon for a proper spell so he glances around, hoping for something of use. 

Ironically, the something turns out to be the stone dagger. It probably fell when Kangmin’s mother did and Dongheon hates it with his entire being but he reaches for it anyway.

Hoyoung’s eyes go wide and then wider when Dongheon reaches for his own neck, slashing the skin open. 

“I made it,” he confesses, flinging the dagger back, away from them. It does little to clear the horror on Hoyoung’s face. “Long, long time ago. It’s harmless for me and it’s not strong enough to transfer poison through a third party.”

“I’m more concerned with the gash in your neck,” Hoyoung mumbles, running his finger through the trickle of blood down Dongheon’s collarbone.

Dongheon shrugs. “It’s going to close when you’re done. That’s how vampire magic works, isn’t it?” When Hoyoung doesn’t reply but doesn’t lean in either, Dongheon runs his thumb along his lower lip. Hoyoung’s lips part slowly and Dongheon’s finger slips inside, traces the edge of a fang. He pushes into it without warning and the drop of blood has Hoyoung surging forward, instincts kicking in. He gathers himself quickly enough but Dongheon already has him where he wants him.

His finger slips out of Hoyoung’s mouth, hand trailing to his neck instead. He pulls Hoyoung forward gently and this time, there is no resistance.

“Ït’s okay, love,” he says, already a little delirious with exhaustion. “Go ahead.”

There’s a sharp pain right where the slash is and it hurts like hell for about a moment before Hoyoung’s magic kicks in. Dongheon’s own magic tries to fight it, the natural protection light comes with kicking in. But it  _ hurts  _ and light isn’t the only type of magic running through his veins. It takes a moment, but eventually the protection is pushed away and Hoyoung’s poison dulls his senses.

As Dongheon drifts off, his memories of the last time they did something similar blur with reality. Last time - the first time. Hoyoung had been dying then too, starved and exhausted. There is one big difference, though. There is an ocean of trust between the hesitant wrist Dongheon had offered back then and the way he melts under Hoyoung’s palms now. 

*

Dongheon wakes up in his own bed. His whole body is sore but at least his magic seems to be mostly back.

It can’t be said for the walls surrounding him. 

He’s spent so much time with the house’s protection spells that they became an inseparable part of his morning: wake up, get dressed, listen to the hum of magic around you. It has never been so quiet before.

As if sensing that Dongheon is awake, which he probably did, Hoyoung shows up at the door almost instantly. 

“Kangmin hasn’t woken up yet,” he says, settling at the edge of Dongheon’s bed. He reaches for Dongheon too, maybe to push away a stray strand of hair, or cup his cheek, or… Dongheon doesn’t get to find out, because Hoyoung’s hand freezes mid-air, then falls back on the bed.

Dongheon pushes down the pang of disappointment. “He exploded.”

“He’s alive,” Hoyoung counters. The memory of the exploding boy in the book hangs in the air between them. “The people in the garden, in town. I checked. Everything is burned down. Everyone is dead. Is this why?”

“I couldn’t save them,” Dongheon mumbles, even though it’s not what Hoyoung asked. “I shielded Kangmin from his own magic but I couldn’t shield them. I couldn’t stop the magic.”

“You saved him. You brought me back from the dead,” Hoyoung says softly, palm resting over Dongheon’s on the bed. “You can’t save everyone, Dongheon. But you saved us and that has to count for something.”

Does it? But he’s tired of this conversation. He finds something else to focus on, something he hasn’t been able to stop staring at since Hoyoung opened his door.

Hoyoung’s hair is entirely white now, in the same way elderly people’s hair is, even if his face remains exactly the same. 

Almost the same - his eyes. One of them is the brilliant blue Dongheon has come to associate with health, happy but the other-

The other is brown. Brown like it was yesterday, like it was all those years ago. There are no flecks of blue this time.

Hoyoung catches him staring and lets go of Dongheon to touch his own cheek (Dongheon misses the pressure). 

“It’s dead,” he says, like he’s talking about the weather. “I’ve fed now but it didn’t change. The other one did but this, no. I guess I can have a career as a pirate now?”

It doesn’t look like anything beyond his eyes and his hair has changed. Dongheon breathes a sigh of relief. “You were dead. You can’t just return to the world of the living without death leaving its mark on you.”

That doesn’t stop the guilt nibbling at his insides, though.

“See?” Hoyoung says, grin only a little forced. “A pirate’s life for me.” There is a long pause before he speaks again. “I didn’t even know it’s possible. Coming back.”

Dongheon shrugs. “It’s not.”

More silence. Dongheon isn’t quite sure what to fill it with. Whether he even wants to.

“It’s a nice mark,” Hoyoung smiles eventually, more real this time. “We need to finish packing and leave. A whole town dead will not go unnoticed for long.”

The change of topic is something Dongheon can relate to, so he doesn’t argue. Hoyoung is right anyway. They need to leave as soon as possible and there is so much work to do before that.

*

Kangmin has yet to wake up by the time they leave. Hoyoung picks him up piggy back style and Dongheon carries the bag with their luggage. He mourns the loss of his library. He packed his most treasured books but there are a lot that remained, even though Dongheon did his best to shrink as much of their belongings as possible. 

“It’s time,” Hoyoung says, just loud enough for Dongheon to pick it up.

They need to clean up after themselves, in case another witch or worse, a hunter, stumbles onto this. “Can you give me a moment?”

Dongheon doesn’t see Hoyoung’s nod but he hears the footsteps getting further and further away.

It’s his house. The place he made a home in and the place he met Hoyoung in - the place where those two things became one. Dongheon never considered himself particularly sentimental but right now, with the tears rolling down his cheeks, he’s not so sure.

He takes a shaky breath, then steels himself. Mimicking Kangmin’s magic is easy enough and in a moment, clouds gather over the house. There is no rain but there is thunder and it strikes mercilessly against the roof, the windows. It’s mere moments before a windowsill catches fire, then a crumbling wall, then everything, all at once. It looks almost beautiful, the fire the only thing moving in the night.

Dongheon closes his eyes against the flames, breathes in the smell of smoke. He turns around like that, heading for Hoyoung with his eyes still closed. He only opens them when he can sense Hoyoung’s presence, already at the edge of what’s left of the woods.

“We’ll find a new home,” Hoyoung says, voice soft like Dongheon has never seen it before. “As long as we have each other, we’ll be fine.”

“I know,” Dongheon breathes, trying his best not to look back. It gets easier with each step forward.

They’ll be fine. They have to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dongheon needs a nap: the fic
> 
> also a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4WtueN3alQUveCPONA9wBv?si=RTrJFsBkSdSnL3kQCqvuzA). if you've opened the previous one, you'll see there is a trend. spoiler alert, it remains throughout the rest of the playlists.

Hoyoung hikes Kangmin’s body higher, ignoring the way Dongheon startles and the subsequent worried glance. He’s been jumpier than usual, panic spiking over the smallest things and Hoyoung would find it funny if he didn’t know the reason. He can’t imagine watching so many people die, watching Kangmin almost-die and-

He’s not entirely sure where he fits in Dongheon’s world exactly but it has to be  _ somewhere  _ for him to bring him back from the dead. Hoyoung isn’t the most knowledgeable on magic but even he knows that necromancy is not only heavily frowned upon but impossible, at least in the way Dongheon performed it. And yet here he is. Alive.

At a price.

He has to be more careful where he steps but even with one functional eye, his vision is still better than a human, maybe even the average magical creature. The hair Hoyoung doesn’t particularly care about. There aren’t many reflective surfaces in the forest and he’s been good at avoiding bodies of water whenever Dongheon needs to find one. It’s a small price.

The hunger - not so much. 

It wasn’t all that obvious at first after coming back, it feels like Hoyoung’s hunger can never be satisfied. Where he could go up to a month, month and a half if he ignored Dongheon’s worried glances long enough - now, he can barely last a few days before the blue begins disappearing from his good eye. He’s had to feed from Dongheon twice since they left, both of them Dongheon all but ordering him to. Hoyoung hates it, hates taking advantage of someone who’s already doing so much, and yet. 

“The sun is going to rise soon,” Hoyoung says, pulling at Dongheon’s wrist when he almost runs into an overturned branch. The magic of being a nocturnal creature.

Dongheon pulls away as soon as he’s safely back on the path. “I know, I made a location spell a while ago. It doesn’t work as well when it’s not bound to a body but I think it found something like a cave.”

A cave. On top of everything, they’ve been spending the days in dark, damp places because they’re stuck moving during the night. Because of Hoyoung. Dongheon won’t be able to give him another sun spell for a while, not with the amount of magic he spent and the amount of magic they need to survive the journey. Not to mention the amount of power he’s losing by simply sustaining Hoyoung. It didn’t stop Dongheon from offering the sun spell, of course, but Hoyoung would rather die a second time than cause more trouble than he already did.

“There it is,” Dongheon says, pointing to a small opening in the distance. It’s smaller than the others and they can barely walk inside without almost bending in half. “Sorry, the spell doesn’t really care as long as it decides we’ll fit.” He glances further into the cave, where it gets even smaller. There’s water dripping somewhere in there, way into the part where they won’t be able to get to. Dongheon gently eases Kangmin off Hoyoung’s back and lets him go in first. “It should be enough to keep you away from sunlight but I’d rather not take any chances.”

They sit each with his back against the wall of the cave, Kangmin arranged between them so he’s lying on their legs and not the ground. He has yet to wake up after the explosion. Dongheon keeps saying that it’s normal and Kangmin will probably wake up any time now, although it often sounds like he’s trying to convince himself, too.

Hoyoung hates the cave. Hates the journey and the uncertainty because the only objective now is to get away from the town. Where to? No one knows.

Hoyoung does.

They can’t keep being on the run forever. Dongheon was ready to sacrifice his peaceful life for Hoyoung long before Kangmin came into the picture and it’s time Hoyoung returned the favor.

He can feel the sun rising in that way only vampires can, so he reaches for Dongheon’s hand across the small space and laces their fingers together.

Today, they rest. When night falls again, Hoyoung will face his demons.

*

The sun isn’t fully down yet but Hoyoung doubts he’ll be able to fall asleep again. Dongheon stirs across him, as if sensing a movement Hoyoung never made. Kangmin remains unconscious between them.

“Good morning,” Dongheon greets, voice sleep soft and a little pained. Hoyoung’s vampire body isn’t particularly bothered by spending the night folded in half against cold stone but Dongheon isn’t so lucky. There are still drops of dried blood scattered along his neck when Hoyoung makes the mistake to glance there. The puncture wounds are healing but very far from the speed they would’ve healed if Hoyoung was… before. If Dongheon was before, too.  _ They can’t afford to lose unnecessary magic, _ Dongheon keeps saying. The wounds remain unhealed each time. But is it really unnecessary, if it hurts him in the process? Maybe this, after all, is Hoyoung’s punishment for dying.

He makes a decision.

The words are like thorns crawling their way out of his throat. Hoyoung clears it despite the pain. “Could you give me a location spell?” 

Dongheon’s eyes snap to him immediately, any trace of sleep gone from them. “You have somewhere in mind?”

“I do,” is all Hoyoung says. He’s not sure how to explain their destination. He’s not sure if he wants to. Dongheon, dear, sweet Dongheon somehow senses it like he does most things when it comes to Hoyoung. He doesn’t ask and the stupid fire in Hoyoung’s heart threatens to swallow him whole.

*

It takes them a week, three more feedings and two more location spells to reach the house. Kangmin wakes up about halfway through but he’s nothing like the Kangmin that squeaked when Hoyoung showed him his celebration cake, nor the Kangmin that eagerly soaked up every word out of Dongheon’s mouth during their lessons. This new Kangmin is quiet, contemplative. He takes the fact of Hoyoung being alive in stride, like it’s merely a weather announcement. Where Dongheon jumps at any sudden noise, Kangmin doesn’t pay attention to the point where he almost ran into a tree not one but three times, despite Dongheon and Hoyoung’s warnings.

But it's fine. They reach the house somehow. 

"I didn't know you owned a house," Dongheon says, a little in awe as they reach the clearing. 

Hoyoung sighs. "I try not to think about it."

It's not a mansion but it's enough to house eight, maybe ten people. Hoyoung's family has always been big and his dad liked to say he'd been preparing to house an army when building their home. 

The latch on the door is still broken. Hoyoung isn't sure what he expected - maybe someone would've found the house in the last twenty years? Clean up, bury his parents. But his own bloody footsteps are right there on the porch, faded with time but still, undeniably, there. And worse than that - the smell. He’s not sure if Kangmin and Dongheon can pick it up or if it’s just a memory. His own, personal hell. He’s not sure which would be worse.

“This place feels weird,” Kangmin says, keeping a respectable distance from the porch. “Like...”

“Death,” Dongheon supplies, staring straight ahead. “It feels like death.”

The moment stretches, the three of them silent, and Hoyoung feels very, very silly. “We don’t have to-”

“You should probably get us something to eat,” Dongheon interrupts, gentle but insistent. “Our supplies are running low and me and Kangmin need human food to survive. Actually, a walk would probably be good for Kangmin too. I'll set us up here while you're gone.”

Hoyoung likes to think he’s rather honest with himself. Right now, that means admitting he is a coward.

“That sounds good,” he agrees, taking a step back, then another. “There is a stream a bit further into the woods. I’ll try to catch some fish, I think.”

Dongheon nods. “There is still quite a bit of time until sunrise. We’re in no hurry.”

He waits until Hoyoung and Kangmin are a good distance away before he opens the door. It’s no use. The smell hits Hoyoung like a wall and now he’s sure that Dongheon can definitely feel it. The small, cowardly part of himself is glad he’s not there to experience it firsthand.

*

Hoyoung manages to catch a fish within minutes of them arriving at the stream. He ends up releasing it. There is still a lot of time until sunrise. 

Kangmin watches absently as he throws pebbles in the water. 

“There was something in that house, wasn’t it?”

Hoyoung freezes. He’d been doing so well not thinking about it. Or trying to, more like. He would’ve needed to explain eventually. “There was,” he says briefly squeezing the next pebble before throwing it as well. “It was my family.”

Kangmin sucks in a breath but doesn’t say anything; neither of them does. Hoyoung keeps throwing pebbles until the approaching sunrise pricks at his consciousness, his instincts telling him to go home, hide. There is still at least an hour, two if they’re lucky but Hoyoung’s skin buzzes already. Catching the fish for real isn’t much of an issue and they have two in no time.

When they get back, the only thing Hoyoung can smell from the house is Dongheon’s blend of herbs, the cleansing spells their old home always smelled like.

There is no more blood on the porch, faded or not. There is no blood when Hoyoung finally opens the front door, although the wooden floor looks scraped raw. It doesn't feel like there has been magic involved, either. 

It's almost the home Hoyoung remembers, except now his parents aren't there to scold him and his sisters aren't there to laugh because they did whatever he's being scolded for. Instead, Dongheon's books are scattered along the floor, there are herbs all over the kitchen table and some of the clothes they'd taken are thrown over the chairs. 

“Ah,” Dongheon says, voice sheepish. He looks as tired as Hoyoung feels - maybe more. “I thought I have a bit more time, sorry.”

Hoyoung rolls his eyes. “No one has stepped into this house for over twenty years and it looks like we just stepped out a few weeks ago.” He takes the broom Dongheon is holding and pushes him out of the kitchen. “Go rest, take a nap. I’ll take care of food and we’ll have dinner. And then we can all go to bed.”

Dongheon narrows his eyes, stubborn as always. Behind Hoyoung, cupboards fly open and cutlery clanks as it settles around the table. Another moment and the smell of baked fish floats in the air.

Hoyoung sighs. “You couldn’t help it, could you?”

“It’s almost sunrise,” Dongheon shrugs. “I’d rather not risk it after all we’ve been through to get here.”

There’s a mountain of warmth laced through the words and Hoyoung’s heart squeezes in a way it hasn’t even when he was alive. Dongheon’s eyes are soft and the memory of waking up to those same eyes washed out with exhaustion and relief invades his mind. Hoyoung wishes, desperately, to be brave enough to ask what does it mean that Dongheon didn’t pull away then, never pulls away when Hoyoung pulls him closer. 

What does it mean that Hoyoung has died a second time already, and yet here he is.

The sound of a chair scraping along the floor is what breaks the moment. Dongheon startles, hurrying out of the stillness. Hoyoung allows himself a moment more. When he turns too, Kangmin is glancing between the two of them, expression unreadable.

Dinner is a quiet event and it’s over almost as fast as it was set up. Hoyoung picks at the food in Dongheon’s plate because he doesn’t need one and he doesn’t like being the odd one out. Kangmin laughs at them once, the sound barely audible, but it makes sunflowers bloom in Hoyoung’s heart anyway. 

They’ll be okay. They  _ will be. _

*

Kangmin chooses a room that used to belong to Hoyoung’s sister and he’s okay, he truly is but he still can’t make himself go and help Kangmin set up. He remains in the kitchen, cleaning out dishes that have already been cleaned while Dongheon does that.

The dish in his hand slips out. Rather than crash into the floor, it hovers just above it, then floats back into its cupboard. Hoyoung looks up to see Dongheon smiling at him, a trace of… something lurking in his eyes.

He offers Hoyoung a hand. “I wanted to show you something before the sun was up.”

The sun is almost there, the sky lightening up already. It’s uncomfortable but not deadly for Hoyoung yet and he allows himself a moment to enjoy the scraps of sunlight he’s allowed.

Dongheon tugs him towards the back of the garden, secluded by a cluster of trees that Hoyoung doesn’t remember.

“It would’ve been nicer in the dark but I wanted you to see them before we go to bed,” he says leading him through the trees. Behind them are - flowers? There are four of them and they’re not like any of the flowers Hoyoung has seen, even while living with a witch for twenty years. Their stems grow high, almost reaching Hoyoung’s waist. The most fascinating part, though, is their color. They glow a faint green. Dongheon is right; they would’ve looked gorgeous in the dark.

These flowers were definitely not there when Hoyoung lived in the house. “What are they?”

“They’re called moon flowers,” Dongheon says softly. “They’re made of magic, it’s. It’s a type of necromancy, the only one we really use. Most witches aren’t too fond of gravestones because they can be turned into weapons,” he laughs, a short and desperate sound. “This is how we honor our loved ones. They only bloom once a year, on the day their person was born.” There is a pause, but Hoyoung can’t take his eyes off the flowers long enough to glance at Dongheon’s face. “I couldn’t bury them your way,” Dongheon mumbles, barely above a whisper. “I hope this is a good substitute.”

Hoyoung hadn’t realized he was crying until Dongheon pulls him closer, wipes his tears without a word. 

The sun is almost fully out now and Hoyoung huddles closer, even if his skin is starting to prickle in the places not covered by cloth. It’s Dongheon that pulls him inside, too.

He leads Hoyoung up the stairs, stopping right in front of Hoyoung’s room. 

“How did you know?” Hoyoung asks, even if a part of him laughs. Of course Dongheon knows.

Dongheon shrugs. “It felt like you the most. I didn’t have enough magic to block out the whole house but I figured your room would be enough for today.”

“You didn’t-” Hoyoung starts, then shakes his head. They’re no longer in danger. Dongheon will have all the time to rest and Hoyoung will make sure of it. 

Dongheon makes to leave and all of a sudden, the memories of the last time Hoyoung left this room flood his brain. There was screaming, there was blood, so much blood-

“Will you stay with me?”

It stops Dongheon in his tracks. He’s seen the room. He knows it’s tiny. In normal circumstances, Dongheon would splutter and refuse the very idea, Hoyoung  _ knows.  _ But whatever is happening between them means nothing in the face of now. 

Maybe it means all the things instead.

Dongheon wraps his arms around him again, as close as they’d been when Hoyoung came back from the dead, and doesn’t let go until they’re safely tucked in Hoyoung’s old bed. 

There are so many ghosts in this house that Hoyoung is sure he’ll never truy sleep, even if he’s drifting off as soon as his head hits the pillow.

The last coherent thought before he sleep takes him is something his father said a long, long time ago.  _ This is a family home; it’s our family now but one day it’ll be yours, too. _

Hoyoung finds it almost funny - after so many things gone wrong, at the end of the day, his father was right. This is still a family home and it’s Hoyoung’s family now.

*

_ There is blood and screaming and his mom is screaming for him to run but he's in pain. He doesn't want to leave them alone, doesn’t want to be alone. The monster looks up at him, his skin is pale where it's not splattered with blood and his eyes are bright, bright red. He's crying.  _

_ His mom is still screaming for him to run but it's the monster mouthing 'please, go' that finally makes Hoyoung take off.  _

He wakes up with a start, Dongheon startling awake next to him as well. His hands fly to Hoyoung’s abdomen, right where the dagger went through. 

Hoyoung takes a deep breath. He doesn’t need it but it makes Dongheon relax, the tension draining out of his body. 

Somewhat reluctantly, Dongheon’s hand slips off his stomach too. “Bad dream? I thought vampires didn’t dream.”

“They don’t,” Hoyoung says. “It’s a recent development.”

Dongheon tenses up again. “Are there others?”

“You would’ve known,” Hoyoung laughs, quiet and breathless. The blood from his dream is quickly fading into floors that have been scraped raw but the screaming drags along his mind like the claws of a monster refusing to leave. Once again, Hoyoung takes a deep breath that he doesn’t really need. “It was about my family. When I got turned.” Dongheon wraps him in a hug, no hesitation this time. Hoyoung allows himself to relax into it. “I think the worst part is I can’t hate him, you know? I did back then but now… he was crying. I can’t help but imagine myself in his place, starved beyond comprehension. Killing-”

“You won’t,” Dongheon interrupts. The hug is getting progressively tighter and if he needed air still, Hoyoung is sure he would’ve had trouble getting it. “You found me then and you’ll keep finding me because I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting you go either.”

The memory of feeling Dongheon’s magic for the first time is burned into Hoyoung’s consciousness still. Probably will be as long as he’s alive. He hadn’t known it was magic then, only that it felt safe. 

And it felt so, so safe. Dongheon, a stranger, a witch, held his hand as he was adjusting to this new life. Allowed him to believe that being a monster doesn’t have to mean you’re bad.

That first day Hoyoung ended up on Dongheon’s doorstep was the first time he fed on anyone and the only time that anyone was Dongheon. At least until the explosion.

The sun is high in the sky outside and Hoyoung can feel it like he could feel the sunrise earlier. In the quiet of the day that he’s no longer allowed to see, he wonders what else this new life will bring him. Whether he’ll need to die a third time to keep this, to have Dongheon wrapped around him in his small childhood bed like the rest of the world doesn’t matter.

*

The next few days are uneventful. They settle into their new home and Hoyoung re-settles into his old one. Dongheon isn’t allowed to perform any magic because he never quite recovered from the fight and between that, feeding and sun-proofing a whole room he barely has the energy to zap Hoyoung anymore. Kangmin isn’t allowed to substitute even for feeding, especially for feeding, despite the offer that comes up each time Dongheon stumbles on a perfectly flat surface.

Not to mention the moon flowers. Dongheon refuses to tell them just how much they drained him but Hoyoung isn’t blind.

Other than the feeding offers, Kangmin is still quiet, most of the time. Hoyoung shows him the moon flowers on a warm, moonlit night. Kangmin watches them move in the breeze, silent even after Hoyoung explains what exactly they mean.

He tries not to think about it when Dongheon helps Kangmin plant a cluster of white lilies a few days later.

They spend their days with Dongheon raising his protection spells again, then slowly blocking out the rest of the house. He shows Kangmin how to as well and Kangmin almost smiles when he manages to block out a corner of the kitchen all by himself. Hoyoung is proud.

It’s nice. It’s calm, almost boring, even. But Hoyoung should’ve known - his life is never truly calm, ever.

*

It’s Dongheon that wakes up with a start this time. There is panic pouring out of him in a way that Hoyoung doesn’t need vampire senses to recognize. It’s still a day outside, although a lot closer to the evening this time. Still, Dongheon bolts out of bed and returns with a familiar jar and his brushes.

“I thought we said you’re going to take it slow-”

“No time,” Dongheon interrupts, grabbing for the buttons of Hoyoung’s shirt when Hoyoung makes no move to. In another situation, Hoyoung would’ve been happy to let himself be undressed. Right now, the brush is smooth against his skin and he’s scared. Dongheon pauses when he next goes to dip the brush into his potion, forehead resting on Hoyoung’s shoulder. “I know this makes us more vulnerable, I need the power, I know. But I need you there more.”

Hoyoung doesn’t protest. He cards his fingers through Dongheon’s messy hair, absently combing it until Dongheon starts drawing again. It’s slower this time, more focused.

He waits until Dongheon moves up to his eyes. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure,” Dongheon admits, hand halting over Hoyoung’s cheek for a moment. “I set up my spells to reach a bit into the clearing. There are people there. More than one, all agitated. They know we’re here.”

The fear crawls into his gut, wraps around his silent heart Agitated. “Are they human?”

“No.” Dongheon says without a hint of hesitation. “There is at least one witch but I’m not sure about the rest.”

The last stroke of the sun spell makes Dongheon hunch over, like the breath has been kicked out of him. Hoyoung holds him through it, brushing the hair out of his eyes when he finally straightens up.

Way too soon, Dongheon straightens up, teeth gritted. “Let’s go. I’m worried Kangmin’s magic might react to the foreign one.”

*

The sunlight is blinding like it always is when Hoyoung hasn’t seen the sun in a while. It doesn’t feel different like he thought it would - maybe his eyes really are the only side effect of coming back from the dead.

He doesn’t have much time to contemplate; Dongheon is hurrying towards a specific place in the woods and Hoyoung tamps down the tinge of fear. It’s light. It’s now, not twenty years ago.

They barely manage to reach the edge of the forest when a loud growl rumbles through the air.

Dongheon stops dead in his tracks. He says it out loud but even then, Hoyoung already knows.

“Shifters.”

There are two large wolves, both of them growling in warning. The witch must be the one behind them, then. Hoyoung can’t see the body because the wolves are positioned so it’s hidden out of sight but he can smell the blood. Dongheon must sense something is wrong, too. He raises his hands, palms up.

“I don’t want to hurt you or your witch,” he says slowly, carefully, despite the wolves still growling. “I can help him.”

Dongheon takes a step forward, arms still raised, and one of the wolves bares their teeth. In a moment, Hoyoung finds himself in front of Dongheon. He doesn’t even remember moving. The second wolf watches them curiously, no longer growling even though the first one looks threatening enough for the two of them.

“It’s okay,” Dongheon mumbles, fingers landing on Hoyoung’s elbow. It only lasts a second before he sidesteps him and faces the wolves again. “I won’t hurt him,” he repeats, voice gentle. “This is our home. You’ve probably felt my magic already. You can protect him but you and I both know you can’t heal him.”

It’s harsh and Hoyoung winces but it’s the truth. Like him, shifters’ magic only lends itself to their specific supernatural traits. Shifters can’t heal. And if the worry in Dongheon’s voice is anything to go by, the person behind the wolves needs healing.

The second, calmer wolf shifts into human form. He’s built big, his hair short but his features are kind. He looks like someone who would look pretty smiling. 

He’s also completely unashamed of his nudity, to Dongheon’s discomfort and Hoyoung’s mild amusement.

“My name is Yeonho,” he starts, offering a tentative smile. Hoyoung was right, it is pretty. “He’s been bleeding for a while now and we don’t know what to do.”

Dongheon takes another step forward and this time both the other wolf and Yeonho let him, even if the wolf is still growling, low in their throat. Now that Yeonho is no longer in the way, Hoyoung can see that the witch is a boy, too. Dongheon kneels by his body and touches his forehead, his hands, his chest.

“A dark witch,” he says absently, brushing fiery red hair out of the witch’s forehead. “He’s been tortured, hasn’t he?”

Yeonho nods but doesn’t offer an explanation. At least the other shifter has stopped growling. 

Dongheon straightens up, takes a step back so he can face both shifters. “I can patch him up so you can be on your own but I’d rather watch him until he heals.” Dongheon pauses, then glances back at Hoyoung. Hoyoung hates it; all of it. He nods. Dongheon turns back to the shifters. “You can stay with us while he gets better.”

“What about him?” Yeonho asks, glancing at Hoyoung. His eyes linger on Hoyoung’s hair, his dead eye.

Hoyoung shrugs. “He’s still bleeding, isn’t he? I can smell the blood.” Both the wolf and Yeonho tense, subtly moving to surround the witch again. Hoyoung laughs, short and humorless. “Do I look like I’m about to lose it? If you can keep yourself from gnawing at an open wound, a vampire that doesn’t go feral at the slightest drop of blood shouldn’t be that much of a stretch.”

Yeonho at least has the decency to look sheepish, even if the other shifter doesn’t move from his defensive stance.

Dongheon clears his throat. “No one is eating anyone here. However,” he says, meeting the eyes of each of the wolves, his expression void of any emotion. “There is one more person in the house besides us.” Hoyoung can feel the air charging with magic, not an entirely pleasant one. Dongheon’s voice is calm and even. “If you hurt my family I can and will kill you.”

No one moves for a long moment. Then, Yeonho smiles again, a little brighter this time. “We have a deal.”

*

Yeonho is the one carrying the witch back to the house. His name is Gyeheon and apparently the other shifter’s name is Minchan, although he refuses to change back into human form. Hoyoung feels uneasy about bringing more supernatural creatures into his home but turning them away had felt worse. Especially given how much Dongheon enjoys helping people. 

He would’ve turned them away, though. He probably still would, if Hoyoung asked him to. Hoyoung files this information away, for the conversation that he and Dongheon should have. Someday.

They lay Gyeheon down in the room Hoyoung’s grandparents occupied once. It hasn’t been sun-proofed yet which probably provides comfort, even if it’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things. It’s also close to the front door, which Minchan notes right away, if the way he marks every possible route out is anything to go by. 

Hoyoung stays out of the room along with Yeonho. No one has asked him to, Dongheon would never, but he can sense that his presence makes Minchan uneasy. He's still not fully on board with the idea of three strangers in his home though, and he doubts he's going to get much rest while they're here. 

Among the silence, it’s easy to hear the sound of footsteps coming from the other end of the house. Kangmin halts when he turns the corner, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He glances at Hoyoung, then at Yeonho, then promptly covers his face.

Right. Yeonho is still very much naked.

“I suppose there is a good reason that there is a naked person in our hallway,” Kangmin says and Hoyoung pushes down the burst of warmth at  _ our hallway. _ Not the time.

He pushes Yeonho towards his old room, ignoring his half-hearted protests. 

“There is,” Hoyoung mutters, then a little louder, “but he won’t be naked for long, right, Yeonho?”

Yeonho doesn’t get to reply before Hoyoung pushes him into the room and slams the door behind them. He gives him a critical once-over, which finally, finally seems to bring some sort of shame to Yeonho’s general appearance. 

Hoyoung taps his chin in thought. “You’re too big for my clothes. I suppose Dongheon’s would have to do.”

Dongheon’s clothes do, indeed, do the job but only barely. Yeonho looks a little like a child that has outgrown his clothes but no one bothered to get him new ones. When they emerge from the room, Kangmin is perched on a kitchen chair and Dongheon is making tea. Or a potion. You never know with him.

“Oh,” Dongheon says when he spots them, eyes glued to Yeonho’s clothes. “That’s the same shirt I gave you when we first met.”

Hoyoung glances back at the shirt. He doesn’t remember but then again, he doesn’t remember a lot of things from back then.

“Sounds like a fated shirt to me,” Kangmin says, a hint of a smile on his lips. It has more life in it than anything he has said in the past few weeks. Maybe that’s the key to healing - the proof that there is a world beyond what you went through. 

Hoyoung wonders if that’s why walking around the house doesn’t hurt anymore. The nightmares are still there but they have all the time in the world for those.

He looks up at Dongheon, only to find him looking back. No one says anything for a long moment. 

Hoyoung looks away first. “How is Gyehyeon?”

Whatever emotion Dongheon’s expression held, it’s lost to a frown. “He’ll be fine. His magic is mostly intact and it’s trying to knit him back together but dark witches aren’t famous for their healing skills, even if it comes to themselves.”

“And you’re not a dark witch?” Yeonho asks, curious.

Dongheon sighs. Hoyoung feels the surge of power before he sees it. Dongheon’s magic splits in half, part of him bursting in light and his eye becoming that unnatural, translucent white. His other eye, his other half is completely black. Yeonho seems taken aback by the display, concern written all over his face. It’s tense, right up until Kangmin’s laughter fills the room, light and airy like Hoyoung hasn't heard it in a long time.

“He did the same thing to me the first time his magic was brought up, except I didn’t get the light demonstration.” 

The magic poofs out of existence like it was never there and Dongheon gets back to his tea (or potion). “It wasn’t a demonstration,” he protests when he turns back with a cup in hand. Tea, then. “Fine, maybe it was. Anyway,” he says, focusing on Yeonho again. “I’m neither. Mom was a dark witch, father was apparently light and I’m somewhere in between. Neither.” 

“That’s nice. Your demonstration was nice, too,” Yeonho says, even though he’s also hiding a smile.

Dongheon beams at him and for a moment, Hoyoung finds himself blinded. It’s a lot and Dongheon is  _ cute  _ which is probably not an appropriate reaction in the face of a powerful witch but it doesn't change the facts.

“What happened to Gyehyeon anyway?” Hoyoung asks, only trying to change the subject. 

What follows is a silence heavy enough you could probably hear a pin drop. 

Yeonho looks conflicted, Dongheon stuck somewhere between curiosity and regret and Kangmin is simply confused.

Yeonho sighs. “I suppose you deserve at least a bit of the truth if you're going to welcome us into your home. Gyehyeon was held captive, for a while. From people really close to us. Me and Minchan got him out and ran away.”

“I’m sorry,” Hoyoung mumbles, because it feels right. Yeonho sounds a lot like Hoyoung himself does when someone asks about his family.

“It’s fine,” Yeonho smiles, although it looks a bit strained this time. “You would've needed to know anyway.”

“This used to be my home before I turned and my entire family was killed by a rogue vampire. I’m the only one that survived.” Hoyoung says, all in one breath.

There is more silence, then another smile from Yeonho, more real this time.

“Thank you.”

*

Things settle for a while after that. Gyehyeon remains unconscious but Dongheon assures them it's more due to his body trying to heal itself than any lasting harm. Minchan still refuses to leave his bedside or shift into his human form. They've mostly gotten used to it now, Kangmin says he even gives him the occasional pet whenever he's in the room to help Dongheon.

During those times, Yeonho mostly stays in the kitchen, as close as possible without making it very obvious (even though it is). Hoyoung keeps him company, constantly at first and mostly during the night after the sun spell wears off. Most of the house has been sun-proofed by now but Hoyoung would rather not get used to the sunlight. It's always more difficult in the long run. 

It’s a night like that: the moon high in the sky and Dongheon checking on Gyehyeon under Kangmin and Minchan’s watchful eyes.

Hoyoung takes a seat across Yeonho in the kitchen and lets his curiosity get the better of him. “Are they together?”

Yeonho blinks at him, before he glances at Gyehyeon’s room and starts laughing. “The two of them? No,” the laughter dies out soon enough. “The pack we come from, Minchan was the son of our leader. And the leader was the one that locked up Gyehyeon.”

“Was?” Hoyoung asks, even though he’s not entirely sure he wants to know.

“We’ve probably been disowned,” Yeonho shrugs. “I don’t really have a family left there but he does. We had to fight some of them on the way out.”

Hoyoung definitely doesn’t want to know. But the look in Yeonho’s eyes says he hasn’t had anyone to tell this to and maybe he wants to, so Hoyoung asks anyway.

“How did they even get Gyehyeon?”

Yeonho looks almost relieved. “He said he’d heard rumors about supernaturals disappearing around the area. He wanted to investigate and I guess him and Minchan clicked. Minchan helped him because he had access to a lot of things as the heir to our leader.”

“Ah,” Hoyoung says. “And your leader found out?”

Yeonho shrugs again. “I suppose they were getting close to the truth. It looked like this has been going for a while now. They’d starve and torture supernatural beings for  _ science, _ according to him. To see how strong magical beings really are.” He pauses, eyes closed. “Minchan found notes, partial but… the things they did. They didn’t sound like science to me.”

Hoyoung's thoughts flash to  _ that _ vampire. The mix of tears and blood on his face and the  _ Please, go.  _

He wonders. 

*

Prior to the shifters, they'd kept almost Hoyoung's hours because Dongheon was adamant about not excluding him from their day-to-day just because he physically can't be in the sun. Kangmin said he didn't care but Hoyoung had his suspicions that it was a little more than that - he simply didn't want to be alone. 

Right now, Yeonho and Minchan don't particularly enjoy the night life and Kangmin seems to enjoy the daylight as well. Hoyoung doesn’t blame him - he would too. The result is usually that there is someone awake in the house at all hours. Dongheon still refuses to leave Hoyoung alone when he's awake but he also doesn't like leaving the rest of their household alone for too long, unsupervised. What  _ that  _ results in is Dongheon only sleeping during the day hours the shifters are sleeping through, which aren't a lot at all.

It makes him irritable, the dark circles under his eyes so big even Minchan is giving him concerned looks, according to Kangmin. He’s always soft and smiley when he lets Hoyoung feed, though, and that somehow makes it worse.

Hoyoung decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands.

The next time Dongheon shuffles around noon, trying to pull out of the tangle of their limbs, Hoyoung doesn’t let him. It says a lot that Dongheon doesn’t even protest, just flops back against Hoyoung’s body, face buried in his chest.

It’s one of the many, many moments Hoyoung gets to think about how they ended up: still sleeping in Hoyoung’s room, together on a bed barely big enough for two people. Dongheon has brought up making it bigger but separating was never part of the topic, even if all of the bedrooms have now been sun-proofed.

Like all of the moments before, this is not the right one.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Hoyoung says into Dongheon’s hair, pulling him further into the bed.

Dongheon groans. “But the children-”

His breath is like fire on Hoyoung’s skin, even through his clothes, and he does his best to ignore it. “I think we both know neither of the puppies hold immediate danger. And Kangmin is capable to check on Gyehyeon alone for a few hours.”

Dongheon shuffles but not away; instead, he molds himself against Hoyoung better, face buried into his neck instead. “I feel like I’m being selfish and irresponsible if I put myself before them.”

“Baby,” Hoyoung breathes, the endearment slipping out without him meaning to. He doesn’t take it back. “Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish. We’re all taking care of each other, it’s not supposed to be one sided.” 

“Why do you always have the right words,” Dongheon mumbles, shifting so he’s no longer breathing directly on Hoyoung’s skin.

Hoyoung brushes a strand of hair out of his eyes. “I don’t. But I like you alive too, you know?”

Dongheon freezes. A minute passes, then another. Then a puff of laughter. 

“Will you stay with me?”

It’s tempting. It’s so, so tempting but Hoyoung knows the answer to this riddle already. 

“I’m sorry.” He doesn’t move yet but he will, very soon. “I would love nothing more but we both know that if I’m here and not downstairs, you’ll only worry until you get up anyway.”

He can hear distant chatter in the kitchen, Yeonho and Kangmin’s voices coming through even though Dongheon has spells in place specifically so Hoyoung won’t be overwhelmed by sounds all the time. 

“It’s day outside, you don’t like being up during the day.” Dongheon’s voice is quiet, oh so quiet. “And how do you know you being gone will calm me?”

“The living room and the hallways are all sun-blocked.” Hoyoung shrugs the shoulder Dongheon isn’t resting on. “And you trust me.”

There are no protests, only Dongheon squeezing him closer one last time before he untangles himself and settles back on the bed. 

*

There is a window open when Hoyoung enters the kitchen and he feels the sizzle of his skin before he sees the sunlight. The window slams shut almost immediately and Kangmin gives him an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I didn't know you'd be the one coming down."

Hoyoung shrugs. "I wouldn't have suspected it either." The burn is already healing and Hoyoung's only regret is that he couldn't feel the sun before he burned.

Once the pain subsides, Hoyoung focuses on the elephant in the room, in the form of an unfamiliar face. The new person has midnight black hair, pretty eyes and while he doesn't seem that much older than Hoyoung when he died, he's easily twice as big in frame. 

He also doesn't ring any of Hoyoung's internal alarms.

"Minchan?"

The person nods. "Yesterday Dongheon said Gyehyeon may wake up soon. I thought I should get used to being human again before that happens.” 

Hoyoung thinks about Dongheon’s stories of how Minchan would lean into Kangmin’s hand for pets, and then growl at Yeonho laughing at him. Gyehyeon getting better means that he’ll be well enough to travel soon, too. What then?

“It’s nice to be able to talk to you,” Hoyoung goes for a grin but falls just short. It’s Dongheon that’s been getting close to them, not him, and it shows in the hint of apprehension in Minchan’s eyes. 

“Likewise,” Minchan nods. “Where is Dongheon?”

There it is. “Sleeping,” Hoyoung replies, softer this time. When it’s not to Dongheon’s face it's hard to feel anything but soft when it comes to him. "He's been staying up to keep me company and then again to do the same for you. I made him stay in bed and rest."

"You got up during the day?" Minchan asks, an eyebrow raised. 

Hoyoung figures it's fair. The one time they really met he had an active sun spell. He shrugs. "It's fine. The house is sun blocked and I can handle a few burns if it comes to it."

There is a moment of silence before Yeonho giggles. "You two are really cute together."

"Right!" Kangmin exclaims at the same time Hoyoung mumbles a _We're not together._

Kangmin gives him a look. "You're not? But you look so in love all the time.

"Um," Hoyoung starts but how does he finish? "I suppose we're just close? We've lived together for a while."

"But you look at him like Minchan looks at me when he thinks I'm not looking," Yeonho says, casually, which is hilarious compared to the instant flush on Minchan's face.

Kangmin blinks at them. "I didn't know you're together? Actually I thought you and Gyehyeon…" he nods at Minchan, which results in more embarrassment for Minchan and another bout of laughter for Yeonho.

Yeonho jabs a finger in Minchan's arm, still smiling. "I told you the whole  _ I will protect him with my life _ thing will give people the wrong impression."

"I will protect you with my life as well," Minchan shrugs, still flustered but with a tone one would use to confirm that the sky is, indeed, blue. He meets Hoyoung's eyes with a much more somber look this time. "When we were still in the pack I didn't want to bring him into a family like mine, even if I didn't know all they'd done at the time. We would've probably ran away anyway, Gyehyeon just put things into motion."

“The only good thing about this whole mess,” Yeonho mutters, glancing at the door to Gyehyeon’s room. When he turns back to Hoyoung, he’s smiling again. “Well, that and meeting you all.”

“Likewise,” Hoyoung smiles back.

There’s a moment of silence, then Kangmin blurts out, “I still can’t believe you and Dongheon are not together. He even-” Hoyoung can see it in his eyes, exactly what Kangmin is about to say and the exact moment he decides against it. “He cares about you so much.”

The pause gets a look from both Yeonho and Minchan but neither of them comment, thankfully.

“I care about him a lot, too,” Hoyoung replies and it sits wrong in his stomach, somehow. It feels a little like saying you’ve lit a candle when your house is on fire. “That doesn’t mean we’re a couple, though. You thought Gyehyeon and Minchan are a couple too, didn’t you? I did as well.”

“Please,” Yeonho huffs. “Gyehyeon has been unconscious for our entire stay and Minchan was a wolf for the majority of it. I can assure you that under normal circumstances, neither of them look at each other like they’ve hung the stars in the sky.”

“Who hung the stars in the sky?” Dongheon’s voice asks and soon enough he appears in the hallway too, the bags under his eyes only slightly less worrying.

“No one,” Hoyoung hurries to say before any of them decide to be annoying. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Dongheon shrugs. “I couldn’t fall asleep. I think Gyehyeon is going to wake up soon, too.”

Minchan is the fastest, to no one's surprise, but Kangmin is right on his heels which makes Hoyoung raise an eyebrow. 

"Gyehyeon is a pretty kid," Dongheon says, watching the others pile around Gyehyeon's bed. He stays with Hoyoung, just out of reach of the sunlight streaming through the open door. "Sometimes I forget just how young Kangmin is and how… neither of us is not."

Hoyoung tries to remember the expression on Kangmin's face during the whole Yeonho-Minchan revelation. Surprise? Relief? Neither? It's been hard to read him after the explosion and especially after their life transitioned to a mostly day one, with Hoyoung still stuck in the night.

"You should be with them," Hoyoung says. Yeonho and Minchan have settled on either side of Gyehyeon's head and while Kangmin remains a bit further back, the barely concealed excitement on his face is hard to miss. 

Maybe it's not Kangmin being hard to read after all.

There's a light touch to the back of Hoyoung's hand, not quite hand holding but Dongheon doesn't move either way. "I shouldn't be there any more than you should."

"You quite literally nursed him back to health." Hoyoung laughs, then hurries to cover it with his free hand. It's Gyehyeon's moment now and drawing attention to himself feels unfair. 

"I helped in the beginning," Dongheon counters. "From then on it was mostly Gyehyeon's own magic and Kangmin." There's a pause, then Dongheon's fingers lace with Hoyoung's, briefly, before his hand drops to the side. "They ask about you, you know? How we met, how are you like. Yeonho asked me about your eyes once."

Something in Hoyoung squeezes, before he forces himself to relax again. In the beginning, when the turning was still fresh in his memories, he hated the blue in his eyes so much that he refused to acknowledge his reflection at all. He doesn't hate it as much now but the habit to avoid mirrors remains. With coming back to the house it all happened and the way here, Hoyoung had almost forgotten about it - the death mark. Thinking back, it’s surprising they didn’t ask about it right away.

“What did you tell him?”

Dongheon shrugs. “That we’ve been through some things. It’s not just my story to tell.”

But it is. It was Dongheon who took in Hoyoung, then Kangmin and it was Dongheon who saved them. Sometimes Hoyoung feels like nothing but a side character in the grand story of Dongheon’s life. And even then, he doesn’t mind - it’s a great story to be a part of. It hits him, then. It has been building up for a long time and it’s like a cup tipping over, finally. 

Hoyoung is so, so in love.

All at once, it feels like this new piece of knowledge will burn him worse than the rays barely reaching his feet through the open door. It hurts, it  _ burns  _ and there has never been a worse time but there never will be a right one, either. Before the feeling has time to dissolve, Hoyoung grabs Dongheon by the wrist and drags him away from Gyehyeon’s room, up the stairs and into their own.  _ Their,  _ because Hoyoung was scared the first night but he isn’t anymore and yet Dongheon still spends the nights in his bed.

Dongheon’s expression is one of confusion, a little apprehension thrown in the mix. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Hoyoung can’t help but notice he didn’t question it once. “Why did you bring me back to life, Dongheon?

“I...” Dongheon trails off. He meets Hoyoung’s eyes for a brief second, before he looks down. “I’m not sure? It just-”

“Why did you let me kiss you?” Hoyoung interrupts. The cup has tipped and it's soaking through his every bone. “You kept saying I’m annoying then gave me sun spells even though they exhaust you. You let me feed. You buried my parents and you sun-blocked the entire house even though I know that exhausts you, too.  _ Why?” _

Dongheon flinches with every word, arms wrapping around himself. He’s still looking down but he’s shaking now, little tremors that make his clothes rustle. Hoyoung takes a step closer, slowly, reaches out like he would for a frightened animal. It feels like that’s exactly how it is. Dongheon doesn’t flinch when his chin is lifted, though, and he doesn’t avoid eye contact this time.

Hoyoung sucks in a breath he doesn’t need. “Can I kiss you again?”

He doesn’t get to, because Dongheon does it first. He kisses like he’s drowning and it mirrors the feelings thrashing against Hoyoung’s ribcage. They kiss like that for what feels an eternity, then slower, then Dongheon stops altogether. His breath washes over Hoyoung’s lips because they may not be kissing but Hoyoung refuses to move away, not when he knows he’s allowed to stay now.

“Does that answer your questions?” Dongheon’s words tickle this close and Hoyoung wants to laugh, relieved and a little delirious. 

“You know, the kids thought we’re a couple.” Hoyoung says. He wraps his arms around Dongheon’s waist and pulls him closer because he can. He can’t help the smile blooming on his lips when Dongheon mirrors the movement.

Dongheon shrugs, doing his best not to jostle their position too much. “I suppose we may have acted like one once or twice. Is this what brought this on? Now?”

“It got me thinking,” Hoyoung starts, voice quiet. “I wanted to talk to you after the fight, so many times. But it was never the right time.”

“And now is?” Dongheon laughs, quiet, more breath than sound.

“It’s not,” Hoyoung agrees easily, eyes slipping shut. He’s picking up commotion from downstairs, even though the room is somewhat soundproof because of his nightmares. There’s a new voice too. He meets Dongheon’s eyes again. “But it would’ve never been, would it? I can find a thousand excuses to not have this conversation and I’m tired of all of them. I love you.”

Hoyoung didn’t quite mean it to come out  _ now  _ but he finds he doesn’t regret it at all. Dongheon doesn’t say it back but he kisses him again, slower, deeper, and he doesn’t have to.

*

They come back down, too soon in Hoyoung’s opinion, but Dongheon insists they have to meet their new guest. He’s right, too, even if Hoyoung is too drunk on the feeling of finally being allowed to hold Dongheon’s hand. 

He doesn’t remember much beyond bruised skin and dirty red hair and he hasn’t seen Gyehyeon since they put him in the sun room. Still, what he does remember is quite different than the boy seated between Kangmin and Yeonho on their kitchen table. His hair is fiery red now, no bruise in sight. He has a nice smile and Kangmin seems to think so too, if the starstruck look he's giving him is any indication. 

Minchan's eyes zero in on Hoyoung and Dongheon's clasped hands like a hawk. He looks up at Hoyoung then, with a mix of confusion and distrust.

Hoyoung sighs. "Stop looking at me like that, it's a recent development."

Gyehyeon was already looking at them curiously but now Kangmin and Yeonho are too. There's a beat of awkward silence before Dongheon clears his throat and lets go (Hoyoung hates all of them).

"Welcome to our home, officially," he tells Gyehyeon. 

You'd never guess that merely a few weeks ago, all these people were strangers, a threat even. It occurs to Hoyoung that now, when Gyehyeon is awake, almost if not completely recovered, neither the wolves nor Gyehyeon have any reason to stay longer. He tries to imagine the house as it used to be, swathed in darkness and old memories, new pain. 

“Thank you, and thank you for taking care of me,” Gyehyeon replies with a soft smile. He meets Hoyoung’s eyes, staring just a beat longer than necessary.

Dongheon’s hand finds his again. “It was mostly your own magic, I just gave it a head start. And it was Kangmin that looked after you, really.”

“So I’ve heard,” Gyehyeon laughs, heedless to Kangmin’s progressively redder face next to him. “I don’t think I know the full story yet but I’m really happy you found us. I’m not sure what would’ve happened to either of us if you didn’t.”

“We would have survived,” Yeonho says with conviction that brooks no argument. Hoyoung isn’t quite sure he believes him because Gyehyeon’s condition was bad but then again - he never doubted that him, Dongheon and Kangmin would survive either and that’s not a less tragic story. 

“Sure,” Gyehyeon agrees reaching to ruffle Yeonho’s hair. “But I figure it would’ve been harder. For you, at the very least. It’s not that hard being unconscious.”

“We would need to start planning forward, soon.” Minchan says quietly, the easy atmosphere falling apart like sand.

No one says anything for what feels like eternity. No one meets each other’s eyes either, until Dongheon straightens up, a strained smile on his face. “That’s a thought for later. Would any of you like lunch?”

*

The remainder of the day passes by in soft conversations, catching up. Gyehyeon indulges all of Kangmin’s questions, even if some of them are ones Hoyoung knows Dongheon has answered before. At some point Minchan turns back into wolf form but this time Yeonho follows suit, both of them curling up together at Gyehyeon’s feet. With Gyehyeon’s attention taken almost entirely up by Kangmin during the whole process, Hoyoung thinks he understands what Yeonho meant earlier.

It’s a few hours after sunset when Dongheon gently tugs on his wrist, then excuses himself for the night. Hoyoung follows without a word. Kangmin and Gyehyeon are too invested in their own conversation to make a comment on it but he can feel the wolves’ eyes on them as they leave.

It’s only after the door to Hoyoung’s room is shut and the thin veil of silence spell slides into place that Dongheon turns to face him, really face him with his fears spelled across his features. For once, Hoyoung is somewhat glad for the nightmares that had him waking up screaming the first few days. This is not a conversation to be had in a house full of supernatural creatures.

“We can’t put it off forever,” Dongheon starts, to the point. There is no use in small talk. “They will have no reason to stay soon and I think we can both see how Kangmin feels about this.”

Hoyoung sighs. Again, he tries to imagine the house as it was before the wolves and their witch arrived. He meets Dongheon’s eyes head on. “And how do you feel about it?”

“I didn’t expect it, I think, but they bring something nice to our family,” Dongheon shrugs but the tension in his shoulders is louder. When he continues, his voice is impossibly soft. “I think we can trust them. But I also think this is an all of us or none of us decision.”

“I don’t like that you’re torn between day and night life,” Hoyoung mumbles but even he knows it’s futile. He sighs again. “If they decide to stay, we’ll need to find a way that will not leave you drained all the time.”

Slowly, the worry drains out of Dongheon’s features. He sags and Hoyoung wraps his arms around him for support, both to keep him upright and because he… wants to. And he can. 

Dongheon looks up and for the second time today, he’s close enough that his breath tickles Hoyoung’s lips. “I think they’re helping Kangmin come back to us. Maybe all of us. You said your family was big, right? Maybe it’s time for it to be once again.”

Hoyoung thinks about the moon flowers in the garden. Glowing softly, waiting for their day to bloom. He thinks his mom would’ve liked that.

*

Dongheon slips out of bed at some point around noon because of course he does. Hoyoung doesn’t bother getting up yet. He is surprised, however, when the door to his room creaks open a little after and it’s not the familiar crackle of Dongheon’s magic that follows it. Hoyoung sits up just in time for Kangmin to settle next to him on the bed.

“I know you talked about them last night,” he says without preamble. He doesn’t meet Hoyoung’s eyes but his voice is steady, determined. “I know you don’t fully trust them yet and I’m not sure if my opinion matters but I think,” he takes a deep breath, finally looking up. “I think you should.”

Hoyoung shakes his head, pulling Kangmin in a hug. He hasn’t fed in a while and Kangmin’s warmth feels more like hot charcoal. Hoyoung hugs him tighter. “Your opinion always matters.”

“You’re my only family,” Kangmin whispers, voice muffled in Hoyoung’s shirt. “I will always trust you first. But I think it’s worth it, this time.”

“I think so too,” Hoyoung says softly, smiling when it’s Kangmin that huddles closer this time. “We all do.”

*

Somewhere along the line Hoyoung, or maybe all of them, seem to have forgotten that they’re not the only ones placing their trust in near-strangers.

“We’ve talked about it as I’m sure you have before making this offer,” Minchan says when Dongheon tentatively suggests they could just stay here, maybe. “But I think some things need to come clear first, don’t you?”

Kangmin’s body goes rigid and Hoyoung can’t help but look down, the memory of his reflection burning bright in his mind. There’s a harsh scrape of a chair and within moments, Dongheon’s magic envelopes them like a warm blanket.

Yeonho sighs. “This is what Minchan means, I think. You know what happened to us - all of it. I,” he nods at Minchan and Gyehyeon on either side of him, “and I think this goes for the two of them also. We trust you to not take this information to Minchan’s dad, for example. You told me about the history of the house but I think we all know this is not what the three of you are running from.”

“We’re not-” Dongheon starts at the same time Kangmin speaks, voice completely even. 

“I killed my entire village.”

No one says anything for a long moment. With a cold sense of curiosity, Hoyoung notices that no one seems entirely surprised either. Dongheon rubs at his temples. He looks so, so tired.

“They weren’t very open-minded,” he says. “I suppose Kangmin discovering his magic was their last straw. I’d like to think they only meant to chase us away but there was a fight, as you can imagine.”

“Kangmin’s magic exploded,” Hoyoung adds. They’re already here, might as well. “I’m not sure how that happened but Dongheon somehow shielded him.”

Kangmin cuts him a glance. “He’s not sure because he was dead. I think… I think that’s what made me explode. Neither of us would be here without Dongheon.”

“Your eyes,” Gyehyeon says, voice soft. When Hoyoung looks up, he finds Gyehyeon already looking at him. He glances at Dongheon. “You brought him back, didn’t you? I’ve read about it before but all the books treated it like a myth. They all said it takes an immense amount of power, though. There aren’t records of a pure witch being successful before.”

“I’m not exactly pure,” Dongheon shrugs. “You can probably feel that my blood is mixed.”

“Still,” Gyehyeon insists. “The protection spells you use have a constant live connection to your magic and I imagine that was the case with your previous home. The entire house is sun-blocked which also uses a live connection and Kangmin has told me about the sun spells. I can’t do any one of these things without it draining me, let alone all at once.”

Dongheon shrugs again, expression contorted in a grimace. Hoyoung reaches for his hand and lets him squeeze it. He’s sure if he were more human, Dongheon’s grip would’ve been painful.

“We did whatever we could to cover our tracks and ran away,” Hoyoung says. His voice sounds flat even to his own ears but really, what else is there to say? “Now you know.”

All three of them look like they have questions but once again, Minchan is the first one to speak. “Thank you. It’s good to know how the skeletons in each other’s closets look like. It would be easier to protect one another from them.”

He’s smiling - it’s small and unsure but it’s there, and it soon spreads across all of them. Dongheon is the last one to return the smile but his grip around Hoyoung’s palm is no longer made of iron. 

“It would, wouldn’t it?”

*

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Now that it’s official that Minchan, Yeonho and Gyehyeon are in it for the long run, Dongheon notices a few changes.

Kangmin is more open in his affection, so much closer to the boy he met back home. Gyehyeon gets more comfortable too, even if he still gives Dongheon these curious, a little awed, glances whenever he thinks no one is looking.

Hoyoung looks brighter too, even if he spends more and more time pouring over the information Gyehyeon and Minchan brought over. Him and Minchan start disappearing in the unused corners of the house with stacks of paper that get larger and larger each time. Dongheon catches a glimpse of one named  _ Escapee cases, _ before he decides it’s very much not his business.

It becomes his business on a cold spring night, when both Minchan and Hoyoung disappear at sunset, only to return in the early hours of the morning, eyes empty and covered in blood. For the second time in his life, Dongheon sees red in Hoyoung’s eyes. It’s a stark contrast against the brown one but he finds he loves it all the same.

He’s extra careful with wiping the blood off and even more so with Hoyoung’s tears afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok look this was meant to end with yongseung joining the happy family but he just wouldnt shut up so now he's getting his own installment. yay me. stay tuned for that sometime in 2021
> 
> my eternal love for **i** , **b** , and **a** for listening to me whine abt this fic for? six months now? helping this monster have actual plot other than _justify thunder looks_. ily


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